Tossed Aside
by BlackVelvetBand
Summary: When Nanao is wounded in battle, the trust between Nanao and her captain is put to the test and Nanao's carefully set limits are continuously breached. Nanao is determined to keep her distance, but fate is determined to close the gap. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Orders Disobeyed

A/N: Hello everyone! BlackVelvetBand here. Welcome to my first bleach fanfic. I was introduced to the series around Christmas by my good friend Conterra-san (that is actually her screen-name) and was converted into a huge fan. I decided to write this because I fell in love with Shunsui after I first saw him; he's my favorite character besides Byakuya "Epitome-of-Manliness" Kuchiki. I decided to write this fic after I was hit by a random inspiration for a scene which I built the story around. I suppose it could have worked for any pairing but I chose Shunsui and Nanao because they just don't get enough love. This could be set anytime after the Soul Society Arc, I didn't make it specific because I'm only partway into and not nearly finished with the Arrancar Arc. Hope you enjoy the story and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of its characters despite the fact that I wish I did because I would be incredibly wealthy.

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter One: Orders Disobeyed**

Nanao Ise was running.

The battle cries of the surrounding shinigami mingled with the unnatural shrieks of the hollows, causing her head to pound in time with her heartbeat. The smell of blood, sweat, and smoke mingled in the air, coating her throat and lungs, making it hard to breathe. Her always impeccable hair was disheveled and falling to her shoulders, she slicked it back, the blood from the shallow gash on her forehead coating it. Nanao hoped it would dry soon and hold the hair in place.

She was bruised and battered but she felt no pain. She was heedless of everything but her mission.

The hollows were everywhere, they were pouring through the tear in the world gate; an endless tidal wave of destruction. A nearby hollow lashed out at her with its foot-long claws, grazing the shoulder of her sword arm. She merely gripped her sword tighter and vaulting lightly off the ground, delivered a furious finishing blow to its skull. Nanao rolled to her feet, instantly running once more. It would take more than a mere hollow to stop her.

Her taichō was out there somewhere, and she wouldn't rest until she found him.

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Nanao broke through a clearing in the forest, looking around desperately for the sight of Kyōraku Taichō's signature haori. She darted forward, only to be stopped in her tracks. In front of her loomed a thick circle of hollows, among them was not one, but three menos grande.

"Jūshirō!"

It was then she heard his voice and she breathed a sigh of relief at the same time her heart plummeted in her chest. If he could speak he was alive, but with foes like that it was uncertain how long it would remain that way.

Her resolve was fully formed.

Nanao aimed a blast of kidō at one of the lesser hollows to blast a hole in their ranks. Running forward, she catapulted herself off of its disintegrating form, gracefully flipping in the air at the same time she leveled another shot of kidō to a different hollow. She landed harder than she intended to and staggered slightly to her feet. A blur of pink and white filled her vision.

_He_ was there, fighting back to back with Ukitake Taichō, just as she knew he would be. Their four swords moved with a grace and speed that was nearly impossible to follow.

"Nanao-chan!" he cried, momentarily stunned, the movement of his Katen Kyōkotsu ceasing. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay-behind!" A shot of Nanao's red-flame took care of the hollow taking advantage of his shock.

"Taichō," she yelled over the din as she hurried to stand beside him, creating a small circle of defense. "With all due respect I disobeyed your order." Shunsui shot her a look out of the corner of his eye.

"Nanao…" he began but she ignored him, rapidly firing a shot of kidō with deadly accuracy as one of the menos bore down on them. Nanao's taichō whirled into action and Nanao automatically followed.

Within fifteen minutes, one of the menos grande was blown away with the wind.

The battle wore on, the three working in tandem. The furious light from Nanao's kidō illuminated the four bloodstained blades. The hollows fell upon them like a tide, but the three remained strong like a boulder in the middle of the roaring ocean. Ukitake stiffened as he delivered the finishing blow to the second menos grande.

"What is it Jyū-chan?" Shunsui asked, his blades detaching a nearby hollow's arm.

"That reiatsu…it feels like Unohana Taichō's!" The white-haired captain automatically dodged an oncoming attack. Shunsui whirled his Zanpakutō, killing the hollow directly in front of him.

"What's wrong, Taichō?" Nanao yelled over the shriek of the hollow her captain had just dispatched.

"It's fading…" he trailed off. He met his best friend's eyes for a brief moment and understanding passed between them.

"Go to her, Jyū," Shunsui said, as he brought his swords up to block an oncoming attack from the large menos grande, but he wasn't quick enough. He hissed in pain as the creature's nails left a shallow gash near his shoulder. Ukitake hesitated.

"Shunsui…"

"GO!" With a fleeting look at his best friend, Ukitake ran to Unohana's aid.

Nanao fired another kidō blast across Shunsui's vision, dispatching another one of the remaining hollows. The battle appeared to be slowing down, the tear in the world gate repaired. _It's a good thing too_, Shunsui thought as he blocked a blow from the menos grande. He was tiring, but Nanao looked much worse off. She had fought hard to reach him and she had been holding nothing back since she reached his side.

"Nanao," he called to his fukutaichō as she ran forward to deliver the final blow to the last remaining hollow. "Go see to the rest of the squad, I can take care of things here."

"No, Taichō!" Nanao flat out refused, her breathing ragged. She stood next to him, as he faced off against the menos grande, fiery kidō already coalescing in her hands. She fired off a shot, and Shunsui took advantage of the creature's blindness to attack. He was knocked back a few feet when the enormous hollow's arm swept out in retaliation.

"Now that wasn't very nice," Shunsui commented dryly. Taking a calculated risk, he used a precious amount of his remaining energy to shunpo behind the creature, delivering a single blow with both swords to the back of its head. The strike was too shallow however, and the creature, roaring in protest, grabbed the captain throwing him over his head.

"Taichō!" Nanao cried in horror as the menos began to move toward Shunsui. She hit the creature with a barrage of kidō as her vision began to blur. She had expended too much energy but she refused to give up when her taichō finally needed her.

Shunsui sat up slowly, shaking his head, attempting to clear his vision after his momentary lapse of consciousness. His eyes widened as his addled brain made out the sight of the approaching creature; he reached for his zanpakutō as the white mask loomed over him…

Using her last bit of energy, Nanao used shunpo to place herself in front of her Captain, directly in the path of the creature's claws.

Nanao screamed in agony as the creature's claw raked across her torso, leaving a deep bleeding gash from her left shoulder to her right hip. She faltered, feeling her reiatsu drop. She vaguely thought she heard her taichō call her name in panic but she would not be deterred.

Using every last ounce of strength, Nanao fired the most powerful blast of energy she could at the oncoming creature. It staggered back and Nanao pushed off the ground, burying her zanpakutō deep into the menos' skull, before she fell to the ground in a flurry of ashes and blood.

Still in shock at the speed and agility with which his fukutaichō had dispatched the menos grande, Shunsui rushed forward as Nanao attempted to stand, swaying precariously on her feet. It was only then that he noticed just how deep the jagged gash was. Nanao fell forward, and Shunsui, caught off balance, fell to the ground desperately trying to soften the fall for his injured Nanao.

She let out a throat-rending cry of pain at the impact, and Shunsui felt his heart drop in his chest.

It took all of Nanao's effort to lift her head and meet her captain's worried eyes. Her hands weekly gripped the silken fabric of his haori. Her vision started to darken.

"_Why?"_ she croaked thickly. "_Why did you leave me behind?"_

Then her grip slackened, her head falling heavily to his chest. Shunsui had longed to hold Nanao since the very moment he met her, but never had he imagined that the first time would be like this.

"Nanao-chan…" he whispered, a hand reaching out to stroke her blood encrusted hair.

Shunsui watched in horror as his pink haori slowly turned to red.

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A/N: Now, there's a little button down there that says "Go." You _know_ you want to press it. It's calling to you… 


	2. The Broken Chain

A/N: Thanks to all of you who reviewed! To those who commented on the lack of humor, stick with me through these first few chapters which are on the more serious side. I swear it'll totally be worth it. And, because of a combination of putting off writing my Theory of Knowledge essay, and because I'm having too much fun writing this, here's the next chapter already. Don't forget to review!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Two: The Broken Chain**

Nanao opened her eyes with a soft groan of agony.

"Taichō," she called weakly, her voice hoarse from disuse.

She blinked in the blinding light of the room, becoming acutely aware of the throbbing pain that ripped across her chest every time she drew a breath. Slowly, she turned her head to the side to find her hazy vision filled with pink.

"Taichō!" she called once more, panic seizing her as the memories came flooding back.

In the chair beside the bed, Shunsui awoke with a start at the sound of his beloved fukutaichō's voice. "Nanao-chan!" he exclaimed, tipping his favored straw hat out of his eyes. He scooted closer toward her, coming to sit on the edge of the chair.

She reached a hand out to clasp the front of his robes, her eyes watering at the effect it had on her battered body. She _needed_ to know that this was real, that _he_ was real. Nanao's heart flooded with relief at the solidity of his frame and the familiar sound of his voice.

"Taichō, you're alive," she whispered, then as an afterthought, "_I'm_ alive." Shunsui thought it sounded as if she couldn't quite believe what she was saying.

Nanao reluctantly unclasped his robe, moving her hand sluggishly toward the nightstand, groping for where she hoped to find her glasses. Shunsui grabbed her slender, bruised hand in his much larger, calloused one. He gently placed her hand back by her side on top of the sheet.

"You shouldn't move so much, my little Nanao-chan or Unohana-san will wipe the bed pans with me." He picked her glasses up and slid them gently onto her nose. Her eyes, finally able to focus, met his gaze. Though he was smiling, she could tell he was worried.

"Unohana Taichō and Ukitake Taichō are alright, then?" she asked, her gaze flickering around the ward, attempting to make out any friends or acquaintances lying on the beds. She was surprised to see that she appeared to be the only patient in the vicinity.

"Yes. Unohana-san's head was banged up pretty badly, and she had a few shallow claw wounds. It was a good thing Jūshirō found her when he did or else she probably would have gotten trampled by the remaining hollows. She allowed one of her subordinates to partially heal her, but refused to rest when the ward was so full. She's still up and about, but she looks dead on her feet."

A frown creased his face, but he replaced it with what Nanao would call a good imitation of a careless smile.

"Jyū-chan," he continued, "having sufficiently boosted his ego by playing the hero is now resting with minor injuries. You know how fighting affects his health. However," he winked at her, "if he cares half as much for Unohana-san as I do for you my lovely-Nanao-chan, I cannot blame him for rushing to her aid."

Nanao attempted to shoot him her usual glare, but there was no true venom behind it. Her eyes narrowed as she finally took in his appearance.

"Ah, Nanao-chan, how I've missed your beautifully critical gaze," Shunsui chuckled under her scrutiny.

"You look terrible, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao croaked. Her eyes took in the extra-rumpled fabric of his haori and the extra growth of stubble on his chin.

"More so than usual you mean, my adorable Nanao?" he asked, scratching his chin. Nanao turned her head slightly to conceal her blush. She often commented on her captain's appearance, if only to hide the fact that she was secretly attracted to everything about it. Nanao turned back to Shunsui.

"Honestly Taichō, you looked like you haven't slept properly in days," she commented, concerned. It was unusual that Shunsui, who slept more than any other person she knew, would miss his favorite pastime.

"That's because he hasn't," interjected a serene female voice. "He has been here ever since you were brought in, almost two days ago. It took a great deal of convincing to assure him that he could leave your side for an hour to bathe and change clothes after the battle." Nanao turned her head to see the placid face of the Fourth Squad captain.

"Unohana Taichō!" Nanao remarked in surprise, trying to hide how touched she was by the healer's information.

"How are you feeling?" Shunsui inquired, taking in the dark circles under the plaited-captain's eyes.

"I am well enough," Unohana returned steadily. "I am more concerned with how Nanao Fukutaichō is fairing right now." She turned toward Nanao, her fingers brushing the hair away from her forehead. "The cut on your head has healed nicely, and there was no scaring. How does everything else feel?" The healer's gaze darkened in concern.

"The pain is nothing I can't deal with," Nanao said, her eyes avoiding the captain's piercing gaze.

"Does it hurt when you breathe, Nanao-san?" she questioned calmly.

"Honestly, Unohana Taichō it's nothing I can't deal with."

Shunsui snorted next to her and Nanao shot him a wilting glare. Determined not to worry either captain, Nanao went to sit up. As she pressed her hands into the mattress, it felt as if she had been ripped in half. The pain was blinding, all-encompassing, and instantaneous. A scream of agony was ripped from her lips and her weakened arms gave way beneath her. She braced herself for a painful impact from the short drop her torso had to make to reach the mattress, but found herself supported by two sets of hands.

"I think you can take that as a 'yes' to your previous question, Unohana-san," Shunsui said dryly.

"Nanao," Unhohana said, gesturing for Shunsui to hand her a glass of water. "You cannot move like that when your wound has not been properly sealed. We could only wrap the wound, because you fought against the reiatsu of anyone who tried to heal you while you were asleep." She raised the glass to Nanao's lips, and Nanao drank greedily, suddenly realizing how parched her throat was.

"Nanao, I believe that while bravely defending Kyōraku Taichō, your soul-chain received some damage. You are very talented with kidō, correct? When that power is not in use, if I am not mistaken, you are able to feel that energy within you at all times?" Nanao nodded slightly in response to the healer's questions. "Do you feel that energy at all now?"

Nanao closed her eyes and searched for the flowing, liquid warmth that usually filled her veins, helping to keep her grounded in any situation. All she could feel was a faint trace of her normal energy and try as she might, she could not call it to rise and flow to her fingers as it was generally so wont to do.

She bit her lip and drew a deep breath, trying not to panic. For one whose power was constantly present, the loss of the energy felt almost as if the hollow had taken off a limb instead of merely slicing her torso open. The ache in her chest where Nanao knew her soul chain rested grew more painful the harder she tried. When she could no longer bear the pain she slowly opened her eyes.

"There is power there," she whispered. "But I cannot draw it forth or raise its level as I usually can." Unohana squeezed Nanao's hand in comfort.

"That at least indicates that your powers will return with time," she said calmly. "However, I am concerned at your current reiatsu levels. Your wound needs to be sealed as soon as possible. Since you consistently rejected the reiatsu of others during sleep, it would be best if we attempted the procedure while you are awake." The captain brought Nanao's blanket up under her chin once more, covering her bandaged torso. "Since healing of this magnitude can be a very…intenseexperience, I suggest that you get some more sleep before we attempt anything."

Nanao nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Taichō," she whispered quietly.

Unhohana smiled her usual tranquil smile of acknowledgment and closed the light-weight privacy curtain around Nanao's bed. Shunsui glanced at his fukutaichō, noticing her avoidance of his gaze.

"Are you alright, Nanao-chan?" he asked quietly. She nodded silently, closing her eyes and settling back into the pillow. After a few moments, Shunsui got up amidst the rippling sound of silk. Nanao heard his footsteps fading away as he headed down the ward.

At his departure, Nanao was struck with a severe feeling of loneliness.

Nanao had never been an exceptionally social person, but she had her small group of trusted friends and the respect of most of the shinigami in Seireitei. Even when she did find herself alone, she had always had the presence of her kidō. And now, she was stuck in a hospital bed, useless and unable to move. Even her Taichō, who had not left her alone since her promotion, had left her.

As the pain and her swirling emotions overwhelmed her, Nanao could not prevent a single tear from rolling down her cheek.

Just then, the sound of footsteps accompanied by a familiar reiatsu interrupted her thoughts and the curtain surrounding her bed parted once more. Surprised, she turned her head to see her Taichō, still in his rumpled pink haori slump back into the wooden chair near her bedside.

"Kyōraku Taichō?" she whispered in confusion. He leant back in the chair, propping his feet up on bed, next to her side. He tipped his hat down to cover his eyes, in his accustomed napping pose. From beneath the brim, Nanao smiled inwardly as she heard his deep voice rumble, "I'm not going anywhere, my sweet Nanao-chan."

Nanao drifted off to sleep, lulled by the familiar sounds of Shunsui's snores.

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A/N: Click the button and review…or else I'll sick the _gorgeous_, but deadly, Byakuya on you! 


	3. Prelude to an Awkward Situation

A/N: As I am "stuck" on my Theory of Knowledge essay (a ridiculous assignment dealing with sense perception), I decided that I better put my time to good use by updating another chapter for your reading pleasure. I'd like to thank everyone for their heart-warming reviews and humbly hope that you enjoy this chapter as well.

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Three: Prelude to an Awkward Situation**

Nanao awoke with a start, her breathing quick and uneven. She was surrounded by darkness. She assumed that it was rather late at night due to the overwhelming quiet.

Blinking her eyes, she welcomed the blankness of her surroundings, for it removed from her vision the sight of Kyōraku Taichō lying on the ground, the hollow looming over him. Nanao supposed that this must be the reason she kept rejecting unfamiliar reiatsu during sleep. She continuously relived that horrible moment again and again behind her closed eyelids. Caught in her dreams, she must have lashed out at anything unfamiliar; subconsciously thinking it was something she must defend against.

Nanao rolled her head to the side, which elicited a soft groan of protest as her shoulder reacted to the movement. She was surprised to find that the chair beside her bed was empty, her captain's straw hat tossed carelessly onto it. She turned her head to face her injured left side, the sore muscles inflicting even more pain on the wounded fukutaichō.

She squinted as her eyes were met with a flickering light beyond her bed curtain. She could just make out the shadowed forms of her Taichō and Unohana. Their voices were hushed but loud enough that Nanao could hear them clearly.

"Yare, yare, Unohana-san," Shunsui was saying. "You look like you're about to fall over. You can't heal anyone like this, let alone someone as injured as Nanao-chan."

"Kyōraku Taichō," Unohana replied softly, "I will do what I must for my patients. Nanao Fukutaichō's healing cannot be delayed or her recovery is questionable. As soon as she wakes, I will administer treatment."

Shunsui ran a hand through his hair, pushing the stray pieces out of his face. "Isn't there anyone else who can do it?" he asked with a sigh.

Unohana shook her head. "No, my squad has been stretched thin in the wake of the battle. Even when they are fully rested only Hanatarou and my fukutaichō have power enough for this type of injury. There is also the fact that Nanao has been rejecting unfamiliar reiatsu during sleep. I do not think that it will happen when she is awake, but it would be best if I did it."

Nanao's brow furrowed. If Unohana Taichō was not fully recovered, Nanao refused to allow the healer to endanger herself for Nanao's sake.

"Is power the only issue, or is there some complicated skill involved?" Shunsui asked, folding his arms in his haori. Unohana frowned slightly in thought.

"Well, I suppose that any Captain-class shinigami would be able to do the procedure, as long as they had training in basic healing techniques. However, the reiatsu level must be anything but basic and wielded with excellent control …" Unohana trailed off.

As soon as Nanao's quick brain had processed the criteria she had reached a solution. A part of her couldn't quite believe she was actually considering it. Another part of her, however, couldn't believe she was questioning her decision.

"Then let Kyōraku Taichō do it," Nanao said softly, but firmly.

Shunsui pulled the curtain back with a swift yank. "Nanao-chan!" he exclaimed, striding to her side. "How long have you been awake?" He gave her a mock-suspicious look.

"Long enough," she said, looking over his shoulder as Unohana gracefully glided to stand next to her captain. Nanao noticed immediately the dark circles under the healer's eyes which were highlighted by the light from the gas lamp.

"May I check your wounds, Nanao-san?" Unohana asked, lowering the blanket without a reply and slightly parting the front of the black yukata Nanao was wearing. The healer frowned and traced a finger down the bloodstained bandages. "Your wound hasn't stopped bleeding fully. I wish you would have gotten a little more rest, but I'm afraid we must start the healing right away." She turned toward Shunsui. "Kyōraku Taichō, if you would please excuse―"

"_No,_" Nanao cut her off. "With all due respect, Unohana Taichō I overheard your conversation. Every shinigami goes through basic healing kidō at the academy. The first rule you learn is to never attempt a healing if you don't have adequate energy, or you can end up hurting both the patient and yourself. I refuse to let you place yourself in danger for my sake."

"Nanao-san," Unohana protested, the slight widening of her eyes the only indication of surprise. "It is important that your wound is sealed immediately, or I fear that you will not fully recover your abilities."

"Then Kyōraku Taichō will seal it," Nanao replied, her determined eyes meeting Shunsui's slightly stunned ones.

Unohana glanced between them. "Nanao-san, you have thought this through haven't you? With the placement of your wound, there may be certain issues with privacy that cannot be avoided," the captain finished delicately.

"I know," Nanao said quietly, her eyes still not leaving Shunsui's. Unohana stood up, smoothing out the front of her robes.

"Well, then," she said demurely. "If Kyōraku Taichō agrees, then I will permit it." Unohana glanced at Shunsui who was still staring at Nanao. In an unusual sight, uncertainty filled his features.

"Taichō," Nanao said, her eyes almost pleading. "Exactly four days ago I remember you saying that you would do anything for your Nanao-chan."

Shunsui's gaze softened. "Hai, Nanao," he replied, his voice low. "Anything for you."

- - -

Nanao hissed in pain as Unohana brought her into a sitting position. She blushed as the healer gently undid the sash on the dark robe.

Nanao watched with wide eyes as the garment pooled on the bed, the full ramifications of her decision crashing around her. She had made it rashly in order to prevent Unohana Taichō from harming herself. And, though Nanao had known at the time just what she was asking for when she practically demanded that her captain heal her, the reality of it was becoming difficult to face.

Nanao closed her eyes as the Fourth Squad captain slowly unknotted a bandage and began to unwind it. As more and more of her torso was exposed, Nanao grew more and more uneasy. She had spent over a century evading Kyōraku Taichō's relentless advances. Though she knew that he would have gladly acted on the slightest indication of her feelings towards him, Nanao had always resisted for numerous reasons; a romantic relationship would be inappropriate given their professional positions, and she often suspected that his bountiful compliments were only teasing jabs designed to mock her more conservative nature.

Nanao did not know which scared her more; the possibility that her captain's praises were nothing more than a long-running joke, or the chance that when he daily swore his undying love for her, he was being absolutely serious.

Despite the belief of many of her fellow shinigami, Nanao was not an unsociable bookworm. She preferred to have a small group of meaningful friends, because she believed in giving everything she could to them. It was Nanao who had carried a drunken Matsumoto home at ungodly hours of the morning and prepared her tea. It was Nanao who spent her spare time at the academy helping her friends develop their kidō skills. And, it was Nanao Fukutaichō who _everyone _in the Eighth Division came to when they needed logical advice on how to handle a problem.

Nanao had dated. Nanao had loved. But never had she loved anyone so much as Kyōraku Shunsui. If she were honest with herself, Nanao had come to accept his faults and even felt lonely when the office wasn't filled with his snores. Nothing in Nanao's daily life both helped to bolster her hope and tear her self-confidence to shreds like one of his constant compliments. Nanao knew that once she allowed herself to love her captain, she would not be able to prevent herself from giving everything to him, all that she was. That scared her more than anything.

And here she was practically offering her body to him.

Her stomach flipped with barely suppressed nerves as Unohana lay her back down, picking up a bowl off of the bedside table. The healer began to meticulously cleanse the jaggedly torn skin.

"Nanao-san," Unohana said quietly, moving the cool sponge in a soothing, circular motion over her skin. "I would like to thank you. You are doing this to spare me and I appreciate it." The captain paused, dipping the sponge back into the bowl before resuming washing.

"I must warn you, however. I said earlier that this healing could be very intense. I do not say this lightly. It will be painful, there is no doubt. However, now that Kyōraku Taichō is performing the healing there might be more than just the pain. Since his reiatsu will make direct contact with your soul chain, whatever sensations you feel may be intensified. Whatever you feel, Nanao-san you must not resist." She fixed Nanao with a knowing look.

Unohana placed the bowl calmly on the beside table before sliding the robe back over Nanao's shoulders, tying it closed in an effort to provide Nanao with privacy for as long as possible. "Are you ready, Nanao-san? Shall I send Kyōraku Taichō in?" Unohana asked gently. Nanao knew she was giving her time to prepare herself and thanked her silently.

"Hai," Nanao responded, her voice barely a whisper.

"Very well, I am going to go to my office and rest for a little while to give you some privacy. Please have Kyōraku Taichō fetch me when you are finished." The plaited-captain squeezed Nanao's hand in comfort before departing, leaving Nanao alone in the dancing light of the lamp.

Too soon for Nanao's liking, footsteps drew near the curtain accompanied by a familiar shadow. As her captain slowly drew the fabric back, Nanao felt as if he had just removed any semblance of control she had had in the situation. He stood there, illuminated by the light behind him. Nanao's breath caught in anticipation.

He approached the bed, and with a single sweep of his arm, removed his infamous haori placing it next to his previously abandoned hat. Shunsui rolled up the sleeves of his uniform before sitting on the bed, in the crook of her side.

He raised his eyes to meet hers. There was an expression there that Nanao had never seen before, and wasn't quite sure she wanted to know the implications of. He raised a calloused hand and gently caressed her cheek, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"How lucky am I to have such a lovely savior as my Nanao-chan?" he said. There an odd quality to his voice.

"Taichō, are you drunk?" she asked softly, her eyes searching his unusually serious face.

"No, Nanao-chan," he replied with a wistful smile. "I am not drunk." A tension-filled silence settled between them.

"Taichō?" Nanao whispered softly when she could no longer stand the silence. "I'm ready."

His eyes met and held hers once more. Without breaking her gaze, he slowly loosened the sash on her yukata; a move she was sure he had much practice with over his long lifetime. Nanao was surprised when he did not remove it as she had expected him to. Instead, he only slipped the left shoulder partially down, leaving her as covered as possible.

Nanao couldn't suppress a shiver as his warm hand gently caressed her skin. He placed one steadying hand on her good shoulder as the other one flared with the warm glow of his reiatsu.

"I'm sorry, Nanao-chan," he said, before he gently brought his hand down on the upper- most part of her wound

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A/N: Okay, so maybe being accosted by Byakuya isn't so threatening a situation. In retrospect, I would sincerely enjoy being in that situation. So…erm…if you don't review **NOW**, I'm going to let Ishida use you for target practice! Take **that!**


	4. Like Kido

A/N: Thanks everyone for all of the encouragement in your reviews! So, here's another chapter for all of you, hot off of the editorial desk. I'm kind of tired, so please excuse any typos or grammatical errors. I am also going to apologize in advance if the next chapter is slightly delayed in updating. I have lots of schoolwork due next week, which might prevent me from updating as frequently as I have been. I would rather wait a little while between updates and release a good chapter, instead of a crappy one for the sake of updating. ANYWAY, enough of my ranting…it's time to get on with the chapter!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Four: Like Kidō**

"I'm sorry, Nanao-chan," he said before he gently brought his hand down on the upper most part of her wound.

The pain was instantaneous. Nanao felt as if her skin was being slowly burned off. She bit her lip to keep from screaming at the horrible rending feeling. Her hands fisted in the sheets as every muscle in her already aching body was overridden. She whimpered, unable to stop herself as the pain was soon joined by another sensation altogether.

The unexpected heat and pleasure crashed over Nanao in a wave, her eyes flying open in surprise. Her teeth tore through the sensitive skin of her lip and the copper taste of blood lingered on her tongue. The pain returned without warning, causing Nanao to cry out; her back arching uncontrollably when euphoria replaced it once more.

"Shhh, Nanao," she heard her Taichō rumble, soothingly. "Give in Nanao, let go."

Her defenses crumbled against the next onslaught of feeling and Nanao knew that she could not have resisted even had she wanted to. She was acutely aware of every sensation; the slightly rough feel of his hand as it skimmed across her chest, the throbbing pain left behind in its wake, the heat that pooled in her stomach the closer his carefully controlled reiatsu came to making direct contact with her soul chain.

When Shunsui's hand came to rest right over the center of her wound, Nanao's back arched again. His hand came beneath her, bringing her into a sitting position and holding her steady against him. His reiatsu flared within her, filling her, every fiber of her being resonating with his very essence. Her fists clenched in the fabric of his uniform as her own weak reiastu, flared in response to his.

"_Nanao_," he whispered his voice strained as their energy met, gliding almost sensuously against the other's until for a brief moment, coalescing into one force. All she knew was pain and him and all he knew was her.

Shunsui struggled for control, forcing himself to maintain a hold on his reiatsu and finish sealing the gash. When he finally drew his hand away from her hip, Nanao collapsed against him. Her hands were still buried in the front of his uniform and she was trembling uncontrollably. Their harsh breathing echoed in the silence of the room.

Shunsui went to gently lay Nanao down but she shook her head.

"_Please_, I can't―" she struggled for air, her voice soft and pleading. "I can't move just yet."

Since Nanao never begged for anything, Shunsui complied readily, enfolding her in his arms. She pressed her head into the crook of his neck.

"Are you alright, Nanao?" Shunsui asked, concerned. He had never seen his usually unflappable fukutaichō so undone before.

She nodded almost imperceptibly against his neck. "Yes," she swallowed. "I just…need a moment." He brought her close to him, holding her as tightly as he could without hurting her. She shivered slightly in his embrace.

"Are you cold, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear before tilting her chin up to meet his eyes. He let his hand linger there, savoring the fact that she was allowing him to touch her. Usually, any attempts to do so were met with a resounding whack with her ever-present ledger, a response which had become as endearing to Shunsui as it was frustrating.

"Hai," she responded softly, her voice hoarse from her cries. He leaned over and grabbed his flamboyant pink haori off of the chair, enveloping Nanao in it. She breathed deeply, the warmth of his body calming her. The familiar scent of sake and incense was soothing. She blushed when she felt the rough stubble of his cheek tickle her forehead as he placed a tender kiss there. Though Nanao knew she should draw away, her only response was to nuzzle her further into his neck.

They were both unaware of how long they sat there; languishing in the presence of the other but neither was willing to end it. Only when Shunsui felt Nanao's breathing deepen and he thought that she might have fallen asleep was he finally able to convince himself to break their embrace. If they stayed like this, both would wake up sore and uncomfortable.

"Nanao-chan?" he whispered, surprised when she raised her heavily-lidded eyes to meet his gaze.

"You should lie down, before you fall asleep like this," he prodded gently. She nodded tiredly, and Shunsui slowly reached below his haori and gently pulled up the sleeve of the Yukata. This time he could not help but look at the smooth expanse of creamy flesh, marred by the contrasting slash of dark pink. The wound should have been ugly, but somehow Shunsui could only think of it as beautiful. It belonged to his Nanao, and more importantly she had received it saving his life. When he had finally slid the robe back into place, securing it around her waist with lingering hands, he brought his gaze up to find Nanao looking at him strangely.

"Taichō," she whispered, opening her mouth to say more but Shunsui cut her off.

"Shhh, Nanao-chan," he said gently, guiding her down to the pillows and pulling the blankets up around her. "You should sleep now. When you are better, I will take you out on a picnic. We will drink sake and lay in the sunlight together. I will read you love poetry while the sakura blossoms fall around us. You'd like that, wouldn't you Nanao-Chan?" he smiled when his fukutaichō blinked blearily up at him.

"But what about the paperwork?"

"How can I worry about paperwork, my Nanao, when I have to worry about you?"

She nodded sleepily into the pillow, her breathing already deep and even. It wasn't until he went to stand up that Shunsui realized she still had his haori wrapped around her. He grinned as he removed her spectacles and watched her snuggle further into his favorite garment.

Yes, for his beloved Nanao-chan he _would _do anything, including relinquishing his prized haori for the night. In fact, Shunsui would give her his entire collection of brilliantly colored haoris if it meant that she would stay with him for at least the next few centuries.

- - -

For the next two days, Nanao slept on and off, waking only to eat meals, have salve rubbed on the long jagged slash and on her remaining bruises, and her bandages changed before drifting back into a deep slumber. She had not seen Kyōraku Taichō since that night, though Unohana told her he often dropped by to check on her when she was not awake. Nanao was beginning to wonder if he planned it that way so he wouldn't have to speak to her.

Despite this, Nanao awoke on the third day in good spirits. Her usually high reaitsu, which had been churning restlessly within her over the past few days, had settled out slightly. While it was still lower than usual, Nanao felt certain that it would be back her usual standard soon.

Her good mood was heightened when she was joined for breakfast by Ukitake Taichō, who had come to thank her for saving his best friend's life and see how she was doing. Nanao had always gotten along very well with Ukitake, seeing as they had a shared love of literature. They spent the morning discussing one of her favorite books which she had convinced Ukitake to read weeks ago. He had brought her one of his own collection to read if she felt up to it. Nanao thanked him profusely when he was forced to end their discussion and return to his captain's duties.

She spent the next hour reading, though she was having difficulty attempting to keep the book propped up and turn the pages with only one arm, seeing as her left shoulder still throbbed slightly every time she moved it. She put the book down in frustration and allowed her thoughts to drift. Not one prone to long bouts of time sitting around doing nothing, Nanao was practically chafing with boredom.

She was saved from another frustrating attempt at reading by the rather noisy entrance of her best friend, Matsumoto Rangiku who was literally _bouncing_ with excitement.

"Nanao!" she exclaimed, rushing to her friend's side. Nanao didn't even have a chance to respond before she found her head buried between Matusmoto's enormous breasts.

"Oh, Nanao Ise! Don't you _dare_ do that again, I was so worried about you!" the strawberry-blonde squealed while rocking Nanao back and forth in her embrace. "I kept coming to see you but you were always sleeping!" She hugged Nanao tighter, causing Nanao to fear for her safety.

"Rangiku!" she called, her voice muffled. "Rankigu, I need air!"

"What did you say?" Matsumoto asked, releasing her friend slightly.

Nanao drew farther out of her friend's dangerous clinch, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "You were hugging me so tightly I could hardly breathe."

"Sorry, Nanao," Matsumoto said, smiling sheepishly. "Anyway," she said, clapping her hands in glee as she flounced gracefully to sit on the bed facing Nanao, her tone turning conspiratorial. "_So_, how was it?"

Nanao raised a questioning eyebrow. "How was _what_?" Matsumoto rolled her eyes.

"_The healing_, silly!" she leaned closer to Nanao so that their noses were almost touching. "Was it good? I bet it was _really_ good." Nanao stared at her friend perplexed.

"It was painful, obviously."

Matsumoto sighed in frustration. "Is that all it was?" she asked, eyes wide with excitement. "Because I heard Unohana Taichō telling Ukitake Taichō that Kyōraku-san healed your giant slash wound. I read somewhere that the purposeful meeting of reiatsus by people who are attracted to each other can be a very erotic experience. AND THEN," she continued, bouncing again, "I went to the Eighth Division office to see if Kyōraku-san wanted to have a glass of sake with me to celebrate your recovery. When I got there, Ukitake Taichō and Kyōraku Taichō were alone and talking, you know deep dark, _manly_ secrets and whatnot. I heard Ukitake Taichō ask him about the healing and Kyōraku-san responded with that same wistful tone men always use after a great night in bed." She finished, their noses touching.

"So was it good?" She asked again, her eyes boring into Nanao's.

Nanao blushed and avoided her friend's gaze. Matsumoto's eyes widened.

"So it _was _good!" she squealed. "I knew it!" She clapped her hands again. "Tell me everything!"

"Rangiku," Nanao began incredulously. "I am not going to tell you anything. It was a very personal experience!"

"But _Ise_," Rangiku pleaded, squeezing Nanao's hand. "I tell you _everything!_ And isn't this a monumental milestone in your relationship? You've pined away at Kyōraku-san for decades, and now you just practically had spirit sex with the man!"

Nanao's blush deepened. "I did _not_ have spirit sex with Kyoraku Taicho!" she protested, spluttering.

"Whatever you say, _Nanao-chan_," Matsumoto said, winking. "Please, just tell me one thing and I won't ask you about it anymore."

Nanao looked at her best friends pleading eyes and gave in, partly because she knew she would get the subject dropped quicker this way, and partly because there was a small part of her that had been longing to tell someone.

"When his reiatsu reached my soul-chain," she said, picking at a stray thread on the bed sheet. "It was like he became my kidō. His essence was everywhere, down to my fingers and toes. And, when my own reiastu finally reacted to his," she finally met her best friend's gaze. "It was wonderful."

Matsumoto squealed in joy and wrapped Nanao in another suffocating hug.

"Oh that is so romantic!" she sighed, releasing Nanao. "But honestly," she said, holding her friend at arms length and pinning her with a concerned look. "This forbidden attraction thing you've got going on isn't healthy, Nanao. I wish you would just tell Kyōraku-san."

"Tell me what, Nanao-chan?" came a familiar rolling voice from the foot of Nanao's bed

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A/N: If you don't review…I'm going to superglue Yachiru to your shoulders so you won't be able to get her off. Imagine how annoying that could get… 


	5. A Best Friend's Help

A/N: Well, here's another chapter. The muses struck last night and I finally know exactly where I'm going with the rest of the story. I apologize for the delay but my homework load was not cooperating. I'll attempt to update as soon as possible but it could be later in the week due to the fact that my write up of the fetal pig dissection is due on Wednesday. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Tossed Aside  
**Chapter Five: A Best Friend's Help**

Matsumoto and Nanao's faces whipped around to see Shunsui standing, arms folded, eyebrows raised, just outside the curtain. Nanao's eyes widened in panic for a moment. From behind her flashing spectacles she sent Matsumoto a look which clearly read, '_HELP_!'

"N-nothing Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao stammered.

Shunsui swept over to Nanao's side in a flurry of pink.

"Really, Nanao-chan? You're blushing," he remarked skeptically before his tone turned teasing. "You are so cute when you blush!" Shunsui reached out with a calloused hand to touch her flushed cheek.

"Taichō!" Nanao reprimanded, swiftly deflecting him with a quick rap to the hand with the book that had been resting in her lap. "_What _do you think you are doing?"

Shunsui cradled his hand, a large smile on his face. "Ah, Nanao-chan, you _are _feeling better, aren't you? Did you forget the other night, Nanao? You were not nearly so resistant to me then!" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Nanao glared at him over the rim of her spectacles. She knew he must be in an especially good mood as he was acting even more ridiculous than usual.

"How many times must I tell you not to call me by that demeaning nickname, Taichō?" she said testily. "And," she continued, her voice swiftly dropping in volume as she avoided his gaze. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't mention the other night again."

Matsumoto glanced between them, noting the quick flash of hurt across his features. He replaced it quickly with his broad grin.

"How cruel you are to me Nanao-chan!" he exclaimed gripping his chest in mock-agony. "But don't think you can change the subject on me, Nanao," he said, wagging a finger at her playfully. "You had something you wanted to tell me?"

"Kyōraku-san," Matsumoto began with a large smile, "Nanao was just telling me that the painkillers Unohnana Taichō gave her are not very effective but she did not want to worry you. I suggested that the best medicine for any ache is sake!" Nanao gave Matsumoto a look of sincere gratitude and Matsumoto winked imperceptibly in return.

"So true, Rangiku, so true," Shunsui sighed in agreement. "You are in pain, my wonderful Nanao-chan? Maybe it is best that you stay here another night instead of returning to Eighth Division like Unohana Taichō said you could."

Nanao blinked up at her captain. "I have permission to leave?"

"Did I forget to tell you Nanao-chan? Your beauty must have distracted me," he proclaimed, arching an eyebrow suggestively. This statement earned a prominent eye-roll from Nanao and a giggle from Matsumoto.

"So, I can leave?" Nanao prompted, adjusting her glasses.

"Yes you may," replied a much healthier-looking Unohana as she came to stand on the other side of Nanao's bed. "I would like to check your wounds once more, but as long as you feel well enough to walk around a little, you are free to return to the Eighth Division. You must promise to rest, however. That means no training with the squad or too much paperwork." The healer turned her benign gaze on Matsumoto. "Matsumoto Fukutaichō, I wonder if it would be too much of an imposition to ask you to remain for a few moments and walk Nanao over to the Eighth?"

Matsumoto fairly glowed at the excuse to avoid the office and its perpetual stack of paperwork. "I'd be happy too walk with Nanao, Unohana Taichō!" she replied, grinning.

"I too shall remain to escort my lovely Nanao-chan back to the office," Shunsui said, batting his eyelashes outrageously at Nanao. "For what should happen if my darling Nanao-chan should stumble and I am not there to sweep her into the protective circle of my arms?"

Nanao closed her eyes and took a deep breath. While it appeared outwardly that she was merely annoyed at the return of her Captain's annoying, flirtatious banter, the true reason was that Nanao could no longer deny, even to herself, that she wouldn't mind being swept up in his arms at all.

- - -

Twenty minutes later, wearing a fresh uniform with fresh bandages underneath, Nanao emerged into the sunshine outside of the infirmary. Allowing herself a small smile, she began walking with measured strides toward the Eighth Division. She tried to ignore the fact that her Taichō was walking just a little too close and slightly behind her. Nanao knew it was only because he was trying to be helpful, but after almost a week of feeling like a useless invalid, she was not in the mood to be babied.

"Taichō," she said, pressing her lips together slightly. "I am not going to fall over anytime soon, there is no need to walk so closely to me."

She missed the widening of Shunsui's eyes behind her back, as well as the smirk that crossed Matsumoto's face as she walked beside her, swinging Nanao's book back and forth.

"Yare, yare, Nanao," Shunsui commented, tucking his arms into his sleeves. "Sometimes I think you can read minds."

"No, Taichō," Nanao replied rolling her eyes. "I have only served under you for over a century. If I didn't know you well by now, then I am not observant enough to be your fukutaichō."

"Ah, so you enjoy watching me, Nanao-chan?" he teased as Nanao flushed and Matsumoto covered a girly giggle with a graceful hand. He leaned over and whispered dramatically to Matsumoto. "It's a good thing that she can't truly read minds or else I would get hit with that book a lot more."

Matsumoto laughed out loud at this and Nanao's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson. She adjusted her glasses perfunctorily to hide her embarrassment. "Taichō!" she began, but was cut off as Matsumoto skipped forward a few paces.

"Oh, Ise," she said, smiling widely. "Don't be so uptight! Kyōraku-san was only teasing."

"I don't care," Nanao stated primly. "It's improper for a Taichō to talk like that to his subordinate." Shunsui moved to walk next to Nanao.

"Ah, but Nanao-chan," he stated with a flourish, "You are so much more than a subordinate to me!"

Rangiku smiled as the two began to bicker, the same argument that always seemed to crop up between the two. As Shunsui rattled on about how it was _impossible_ for him to think of Nanao in only a professional capacity when she had such wonderful violet-blue eyes, Rangiku seized her chance.

Falling behind slightly, she eyed Nanao's stride, which was much smaller and slower than usual. While Nanao usually walked like a woman on a mission, her injury had taken a toll on her and she was forced to pace herself in order to make it to Eighth Division without growing too tired.

Matsumoto gauged the pattern of Nanao's footfalls and taking a calculated risk, stuck her foot out just as Nanao picked hers up.

Nanao tripped and stumbled, bracing herself for impact against the dusty street. Faster than the eye could follow however, she was swept off of the ground by her captain. Nanao emitted a small shriek of surprise upon suddenly finding herself airborne. She quickly wound her arms around her captain's neck for balance.

"Yare, yare, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, gazing down at her in concern. "You should have told me you were getting tired," he scolded, misinterpreting her stumble. "You probably shouldn't be walking so far after you just left Unohana-san's."

"Taichō, put me down." Nanao demanded, embarrassed as she became all too aware of what their current pose probably looked like to all of the passing shinigami. Glancing around, Nanao was mortified to discover just how many of them just happened to be out. She visibly winced when she saw a passing group exchange wide eyed glances and whispers hidden behind their hands. _Why, oh, why?_ Nanao thought, _did I have to be released during lunch break?_

"_Nanao_," Shunsui said, his voice deep and commanding. Nanao ceased her protests, eyes wide. Was this why Kyōraku Taichō was made a captain? "I am carrying you back to Eighth Division whether you want to be carried or not. Now be a good Nanao-chan and stop squirming. That's an order." He winked at Matsumoto. From her perch in Shunsui's arms, Nanao glared at her best friend in a way which usually had most shinigami in Seireitei running as far away from her as possible, knowing full well why she had tripped so suddenly.

Leaning close to her best friends ear Matsumoto whispered just loud enough for Nanao to hear, "You can thank me, later." She giggled slightly at the disgruntled Nanao.

"Rangiku-san," Shunsui asked grinning. "Seeing as you had to walk so far, would you care for a drink when we get back to the office?"

"Of course, Kyōraku-san," Matsumoto agreed. "Perhaps Nanao, would like some sake as well, _for the pain_?" She patted Nanao, cheerfully on the head, smirking.

Shunsui grinned broadly. He had his Nanao in his arms and the prospect of a large bottle of sake with his favorite drinking partner. Even more enticing was the prospect of _his Nanao_ drinking sake. His grin broadened as the image of his upright fukutaichō sprawled out, sipping his choice beverage while wearing his haori and _only_ his haori, swam across his imagination, delighting him with the prospect.

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A/N: Review…or I'll…lock you in a one-bathroom apartment with Yumichika! You'll never see the fluorescent light of the bathroom…ever! 


	6. Queen Nanao

A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating but you can't say I didn't warn you. Since the last chapter was so short, I wrote an extra-long one to make up for it. I'm rather nervous about its reception, but I'm still very proud of it so I'm posting it as is. I hope you like it!

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Tossed Aside  
**Chapter Six: Queen Nanao**

_This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Hime, because of the long wait she (almost) patiently endured._

Nanao cringed at the throbbing ache that ripped across her weary muscles as she adjusted herself in her seat. Glancing around to make sure that no one was watching her, she removed her glasses for a moment before rubbing her bleary, tired eyes. Wiping the lenses clean with the cloth she kept tucked in the waistband of her uniform; she winced as she rolled her injured shoulder slightly. Replacing her frames, Nanao took in the scene before her with a grim sort of amusement.

_Only Kyōraku Taichō could turn such a simple event as my return to the division into a raucous, drunken affair_, Nanao thought as she watched a petite new recruit stumble into the squad's fifth seat, spilling sake all down the front of his rumpled uniform. In a manner befitting her captain, the shinigami merely smiled at the girl, clapping her on the shoulder and leading her off to fetch some more of the horrid beverage.

Despite the fact that Nanao was dearly wishing that she could simply slip away to her quarters and sink into a deep slumber, she could not begrudge her division the chance to celebrate so soon after battle. Unlike some of the other squads, the Eighth Division had emerged unscathed, without the loss of a single member. Nanao's return only made this concept more official. Figuring that everyone would be too drunk to notice, Nanao settled more comfortably into the loveseat which had been named, "her throne" for the evening.

Upon their arrival at the Eighth Division that afternoon, her Taichō had bypassed the office completely in favor of the mess hall, stating that he could do _nothing_ until he ate. Nanao soon realized that this was merely an excuse to make a dramatic entrance in front of the congregated shinigami during the lunch break.

Kicking open the double doors leading to the mess hall, he had strode in, carrying Nanao triumphantly in his arms while proclaiming her clean bill of health. A cheer had risen from the assembled squad and Shunsui, his mood brighter then ever had declared a party that night in the squad's common room.

After eating a small meal, Nanao had gone to her quarters in order to take a bath. She was aided by Matsumoto, who was already nursing her first sake of the day. Feeling warm and clean after her prolonged time in the soothing water, Nanao had drifted instantly into sleep only to be awoken what seemed like minutes later by the exuberant knocking of her Taichō on the door.

Before she even had time to say 'hello,' Nanao was once again swept off of her feet by her captain who carried her (protesting all the way) to the party. The common room was strewn with rose petals and sporting a large, colorful banner which read "Welcome Back Nanao Fukutaichō!"

Shunsui had deposited the slightly speechless Nanao on the loveseat she was currently occupying before turning to the rest of the gathered squad.

"As Taichō of the Eighth Division," he began, his voice dripping with his usual dramatic flair. "I declare this night a celebration of our successful efforts in battle and our lossless victory! Though all of you showed bravery, no one was more courageous than the lovely Nanao-chan who risked her life to save my own."

At this, their eyes had met and held for what had seemed like an age. There had been something strange in his gaze, almost like guilt.

"It is for this reason," he had continued dramatically, "I proclaim Nanao-chan the Queen of the Eighth Division for the Night!"

This statement had been met with a resounding cheer of approval from the squad members. Shunsui had gestured to Matsumoto, who never missed a party if she could help it. The buxom strawberry-blonde had hurried forward and quickly removed the clip which was holding Nanao's hair in place before crowning her with a wreath of fresh flowers.

Sake was soon passed around the room, and Nanao found herself holding a glass. Shunsui had declared it Nanao's duty as queen to open the party by taking the first sip of sake. Blushing furiously at all of the attention, Nanao quickly took a small sip, wanting nothing more than to allow the squad to focus on something else other than her. With a loud cry, the glasses were quickly emptied and bottles were being passed from hand to hand. It was not long before the musically gifted members of the squad had fetched their instruments and the room was filled with the pounding beat of drums and the lilting trill of pipes.

That had been almost three hours ago, and while Nanao enjoyed watching the antics of her squad members while listening to the well-played music, she was growing tired and sore. Never one for large social gatherings, she had attempted numerous times to get up quietly and slip away from the festivities but had been prevented each time by a different squad member. Nanao was slightly suspicious that they were all under orders from her Taichō to not allow her to leave the party.

"Are you enjoying yourself, Nanao-chan?" Shunsui said, taking a deep swig of sake as he came to sit next to her on the loveseat. It did not go unnoticed by Nanao that he was so close their thighs were touching. Frowning, she slid over a few inches in order keep a safer and more professional distance between them.

"Hai, Taichō," she said half-heartedly, reaching up to adjust her flower crown, which had tilted with her movement. She winced when her shoulder twinged painfully, eliciting a concerned glance from her captain.

"Are you alright, Nanao?" he asked, regarding her carefully over the rim of his bottle.

"I'm fine," she said firmly, sending her captain a look which dared him to contradict her.

"Really, Nanao-chan?" he replied undaunted. "You looked like you were wincing in pain a moment ago. Does your wound hurt; do you need some more reiatsu?"

"NO!" Nanao protested loudly, her face blushing scarlet as the memory of that night came all too readily into her mind's eye.

Shunsui chuckled at her reaction and touched a finger to her nose affectionately. "I wasn't suggesting I do it, my adorable Nanao," he said, though his tone implied he would not mind in the slightest if the task fell to him.

"The pain is not too severe, Taichō," she mumbled glancing across the room to avoid his gaze.

"Well then," he said holding out the bottle of sake. "You should at least drink some sake; it will dull the pain a little."

"Or," Nanao said, eyebrow raised. "You could just allow me to return to my quarters." Shunsui looked as if someone had given him an unpleasant shock.

"But Nanao-chan," he whined, scooting towards her on the sofa. "You have not even danced with me yet!"

Shunsui enveloped her smaller hand in his, placing the sake bottle firmly in her grasp. She shot him a look that was both disbelieving and apprehensive. He grinned the way he only did when he found her amusing, a smile which Nanao knew was reserved only for her and despite her better judgment, found incredibly sexy.

"I'm not asking you to get drunk Nanao," he assured, still grinning warmly. "I only want you to be able to dance with me without wincing."

Greatly disturbed by the effect the combination of _that _smile and his close proximity had on her, Nanao slowly lifted the bottle to her lips. She took a small sip, allowing the liquid to burn down her throat, assessing its bittersweet flavor and then secretly savoring it. She wondered if this is what her Taichō would taste like if she kissed him and she quickly drank another swallow in a vain attempt to banish the thought from her mind.

Nanao drank just enough to satisfy Shunsui before handing him back the bottle, which he took a large swig from before setting it on the table beside the loveseat and getting to his feet.

"Are you well enough to dance with me, Nanao-chan?" he asked holding out a hand. Nanao nodded curtly, knowing that if she refused he would worry and she could very well end up back in the infirmary. Placing her hand in his, she allowed him to lead her to where other couples were swaying to the smooth, lyrical melody of the musicians.

Shunsui pulled Nanao into his chest, cupping her waist with his large hand. Hesitantly, Nanao placed her own hand on his shoulder, subtly breathing in his familiar scent as they began to dance.

He smiled softly down at her as they revolved slowly to the heartbreaking swell the pipes. Their eyes met as the music reached a crescendo, and Nanao shivered slightly at the intent look in his dark eyes.

She wondered for the millionth time how long she would be able to fight against her emotions, all of which were crying out for her to just let her resolve crumble away and fling herself willingly into his outstretched arms. As he drew her further into his warmth, Nanao felt a small chip of her resistance flake off.

He leant down until his mouth was right next to her ear. "You look beautiful tonight, Nanao-chan." She shivered as his breath tickled the sensitive skin of her cheek.

"You tell me that every day, Taichō," she replied, struggling to keep her voice even and not quite succeeding.

"And I mean it everyday," he said resting his chin on the top of her head. "You just look especially beautiful tonight." Nanao swallowed hard, but for all her usual quick-thinking, could not generate a reply. They remained silent until the last chord of the song faded into silence. The spell broken, Nanao stepped back pulling her hand swiftly out of Shunsui's grasp.

"Taichō," she stammered, quickly retreating back toward the loveseat, where she picked up the abandoned sake bottle and downed a sizeable portion in the hopes of settling her singing nerves.

- - -

Nanao did not speak with her Taichō for the remainder of the party, though she entertained a great many well-wishers. At various times she could see him making his way around the room, always accompanied with a large bottle of sake. Nanao wondered just how much he had drunk. She considered attempting to escape again, but did not see the point in falling asleep only to have to get up once more in order to drag her drunken Taichō, and possibly her best friend to their quarters once the festivities had come to a close.

When the party did wind down, Nanao remained behind to make sure that all of her inebriated squad members made it back to their quarters safely. She was pleasantly surprised upon discovering that Matsumoto was at least sober enough to stumble her way home to the Tenth Division on her own, and left it to her Captain (who still had not so much as looked at her since their dance) to see her down the road.

Sighing, Nanao turned to the mess that was the common room and set about the neglected task of cleaning up. Fetching a box, she stacked the used silverware and plates inside so they could be carried to the kitchen for washing the next day. Finding a rag, she began to wipe the sticky, food-strewn surfaces of the tables. She froze when the motion of her hand was suddenly stilled as another, much larger hand fell on top of hers. Startled, she looked up to see her haori-clad Taichō gazing down at her.

"Taichō!" she exclaimed, flushing.

"Queens do not have to clean up after their own balls, Nanao-chan," he scolded gently, without removing his hand.

"Someone has to do it," she said, her gaze locked on their hands.

"Let someone _else_ do it this once, Nanao," he replied, turning her hand in his own and extracting the rag from her grasp, tossing it carelessly onto the table. Nanao stiffened at the words. There was something in his voice that put her on edge. She wiped her suddenly sweaty palms on her uniform and took a step back, desperate to escape the tension-filled air of the room.

"Nanao," he rumbled, taking a step toward her. She took another step back only to find herself literally backed into a corner. "How much longer are we going to keep doing this?" Her eyes widened in alarm as he came to stand much too close for Nanao's liking.

"Doing what, Taichō?" she queried breathlessly, attempting to turn away and busy herself with something, _anything_.

"Don't play dumb, Nanao, it doesn't suit you," he responded, placing his arms on either side of her head, effectively caging herself between him and the wall.

He sighed, and he was so close that Nanao felt it rumble through her entire body. "I'm a patient man, Nanao-chan," he continued in a low voice. "But a century of waiting could wear down anybody's nerves."

She stared up at him with disbelief.

"Taichō, you're drunk," she stated desperately, searching for any excuse to explain away his behavior.

In response, he merely nudged her further against the wall with his knee. "Perhaps," he returned, "but that doesn't change the facts that you're so fond of Nanao."

"What are you talking about, Taichō?" she stammered, her hands coming to rest on his chest in effort to hold him at bay.

"The fact is, Nanao that some things in life are inevitable. Call it destiny; call it fate, whatever your intellectual heart desires. The two of us fall under that category." He reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Kyōraku Taichō," she said softly, a note of fear in her voice. "You're waxing poetic again," she trembled when his hand ghosted over her cheek, barely touching her but making it feel as if her skin had erupted in electric shocks nonetheless.

"Another fact is that I haven't been able to stop thinking about _that_ night," he continued. His voice was even deeper than usual and had a slightly husky quality to it. The room was so dark that she could barely make out his features, but she couldn't draw her gaze away from his glinting eyes.

"I've waited a long time for you, Nanao-chan but I never actually thought you might feel the same until the other night."

Shunsui's arm snaked around her waist; pulling her so tightly against him that she could feel every breath he took fill and exit his body, setting her own humming.

"It's late, Taichō," she stammered, her cobalt eyes fearful behind her glasses. "You've drunk to much alcohol. I think _I _must have drunk too much alcohol. We have an office full of paperwork to complete tomorrow," she continued rambling, her control fraying steadily as she continued to breathe in his scent. She was so close she could almost taste the sake on his breath.

"Oh, no, Nanao-chan," he said tightening his grip on her waist. She pressed her hands more strongly against his chest in a last defense against what she now knew was inescapable. "You're not running away from me again, not tonight."

She almost fainted when he gently lifted a hand that was pressing against his chest, raising it to his lips and kissing the tip of each finger lightly. Each caress sent a shot of heat straight to her stomach. Gently pulling her arm, he curled it around his neck until they were so close that her breasts were pressing against his chest, their hips flush against each other.

"What a work of art you are, Nanao Ise," Shunsui whispered softly, his gaze raking over her wide eyes and apprehensive features.

Smiling, he lowered his lips deftly over hers for the very first time.

The kiss was gentle, searching, as if he was afraid she would push him away but Nanao was already too far gone to form any kind of resistance. Warmth spread in a tingling rush to fill every vein in her body as their lips imitated what their reaitsus had done only nights before. Shunsui nibbled gently on her lower lip and Nanao's knees gave way. He merely pressed her closer against the wall, both hands falling to grasp her hips.

Every fiber of Nanao's being was singing in ecstasy. Unconsciously, she wrapped both arms more tightly around his neck, causing his haori to fall forgotten to the floor. When they broke apart for the want of oxygen, she didn't object at all as he removed her glasses, tossing them carelessly on top of the pile of silk before drawing her in once more.

Nanao let out a soft moan of pleasure when his tongue met hers in a slide of hot, wet velvet. Her senses filled with the taste of sake and something uniquely _him_. Her hands clawed desperately at his shirt, pulling it apart as the overwhelming need to feel skin took over.

Shunsui let out a growl of approval when her shaking hands made contact with his abdomen. He trailed feverish kisses down the column of her throat and she couldn't suppress another moan. They drew away slightly, their eyes meeting one another's, both dark with desire. In a practiced motion, Shunsui undid the tie which held her shirt closed, letting it fall to the floor. She arched up uncontrollably into his touch when his hands ran a blazing trail up her gauze-bandaged sides.

Nanao was drowning in _need. _Delirious and disoriented, she did not protest when his hand found the small knot which secured her bandages. He unwound them slowly, torturously keeping his eyes fastened on her clouded ones. She let out a strangled cry of frustration and tried to expedite the process, but he stopped her hands in his own.

Holding her wrists securely above her head in one hand, he continued to uncover her skin, inch by creamy inch. When the bandages finally floated to the floor, Shunsui bent and placed a silken kiss to her shoulder, where the skin was slightly puckered. She cried out at the contact of his lips on her burning flesh and struggled against his hold, needing to touch him, to hold onto him as her world crumbled around her. As if sensing this, he drew her against him, her arms wrapping around his waist, her bare torso fitting against his. Their lips met yet again, and Shunsui growled in approval when she wrapped one leg around his waist, instinctively trying to get as much contact between them as possible. She gasped against his lips as she felt the exact effect she had on him.

Nothing in her long lifetime had ever felt like this, not even the other night when the pure pleasure had been tempered by immense pain.

"Please," she sighed feverishly against his lips, begging for what she wasn't quite sure.

"What do you want, Nanao?" he asked, as her nails raked over his back.

"I don't know," she said on a strangled moan as his hand brushed her breast.

His actions stilled at her words and he stepped back, holding her at arms length. Her violet eyes shimmered with confusion tempered by immense need. It was look he had seen on other women before, when they had wanted him without truly knowing why. Back then it hadn't stopped him, but he found that this time, it wasn't enough. _Not nearly_.

"You really don't know do you, Nanao-chan?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Taichō, I…" Her voice cracked as reality crashed upon her once more.

She had just _kissed _her captain. She was partway undressed, and clinging to a man she swore she would never engage in anything other with friendship with. But her heart was screaming in frustration and suppressed need. A part of her was already contemplating what would be the worst ramification if she just went ahead and gave herself to him. She could end up like all of the other women who had found themselves in his arms. Made to feel loved, wanted, and then tossed aside when he had had his fill of them. Right now, with her body aching with desire she'd bottled up for over the better half of a century, that didn't sound too bad.

Shunsui stroked her cheek, drinking in the sight of her flushed and panting as if it were the last time he would ever see her that way. Gently, he unwrapped her leg from around his waist and folded the front of her uniform so it covered her once more.

"Yare, sweet Nanao-chan," he said retrieving her glasses and replacing them on the bridge of her nose so she could see his eyes. "You might want to figure it out." He leant his forehead against hers, "If you find that the answer is this," he pressed his lips once more to hers, slowly, like a dying man in the desert savoring the last drink of water he will have for a while. "You know where to find me."

With that, he replaced his haori squarely around his shoulders. And with a look unlike any other Nanao had ever seen in his sweetly sad eyes, he swept out of the door and retreated into the night.

Trembling, Nanao closed the folds of her shirt over, tucking it neatly in once more and securing it with the abandoned sash. Straightening her glasses, she set about the task of cleaning what was left of the room with her usual cold precision. When everything was in its place, she stepped into the warm night air.

She took no time to gaze at the star strewn sky as she made her way quickly back to her quarters. It wasn't until she had closed and locked the door behind her that the enormity of the situation sunk in.

_What do you want, Nanao?_

With his voice echoing over and over in her head, Nanao sank down to the floor and finally allowed herself to cry.

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A/N: Well, there it is. Review or this time or I'll tell Orihime that you'd love to eat an entire three-course dinner made especially by her. Oh, what now? 


	7. After the Incident

A/N: While I was slightly disappointed with the lack of response to the last chapter, I feel it is partly my fault if interest waned because of the delay in updating. So, I finished the new chapter and here it is, all pristine and shiny just for you! Please review, I'd like to gain some feedback over whether this is too long or not. If people are losing interest I could just write an alternate ending to the previous chapter and end the story there instead of finishing what I have planned. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Seven: After the Incident**

Nanao could barely open her eyes the next morning. Her head was pounding dully every time she moved; a combination of the alcohol she had drunk and her prolonged tears the night before.

She had never had less of an inclination to go into the office before in her life, even in her first days as Fukutaichō of the Eighth Division.

She sat up slowly in bed, leaning back against the headboard. Nanao was certain had she not engaged in her lengthy display of emotion the night before and thoroughly dehydrated herself, she would be crying _again_.

_What have I done? _Nanao thought for the umpteenth time since her return home. _I've ruined everything._

She glanced at the clock she kept on her beside table.

She was late for work.

_Very_ late for work.

So late in fact, that she had completely missed the vice-captain's meeting that morning. While this usually would have jarred Nanao into an efficient tornado of action, she could not muster the energy to care. She had _kissed _her captain, and very nearly ended up sleeping with him. This was not only a serious violation of professionalism, but did not coincide with Nanao's vision of where her life was going.

The problem was that she didn't know where she wanted her life to go anymore and she hadn't for a while.

_What do you want, Nanao? _Her Taichō's voice mocked her.

"I don't know!" she thundered in fury to the mid-morning silence of her room. Her uncontrolled reiatsu left her in a burst of light and wind, shocking her. It had been years since she had lost control so easily. Had he really affected her _that _much?

Clamping down her undulating emotions away with cold precision, Nanao went about her usual morning routine. She meticulously made the bed, smoothing away any undesired wrinkles from the surface of the comforter. Padding her way to the bathroom of the small apartment, she turned the tap for the water on high, letting the liquid stream warm and inviting into the porcelain tub. While she was fetching a towel from the cabinet in the corner, Nanao was distracted by a hesitant knock on the door.

Her eyes widened behind her glasses._ No one can see me like this,_ she thought despairingly.

"Ise Fukutaichō?" a hesitant female voice called through the door. It must be one of the newer recruits since Nanao did not recognize the voice. "Umm, Ise Fukutaichō are you in there? Matsumoto Fukutaichō stopped by the office this morning after the meeting. She said you never showed up and Kyōraku Taichō sent me to see if you were alright."

_He was worried about me? Shouldn't he be angry?_

Shaking her head to clear her addled thoughts, Nanao cleared her throat. "I'm fine," she called, coming to stand on the other side of the door. "I felt a little bit under the weather this morning. Tell Kyōraku Taichō I'll be down to the office as soon as I can."

Nanao cringed at the lie and guessed that her Taichō would see right through it, but at least it would buy her some time to think.

She returned to the bathroom, undressing quickly. She eased herself slowly into the water, feeling her knotted muscles relax almost on contact. Bathing was difficult as her shoulder was still slightly sore, and she attempted to do everything one-handed to help expedite the healing process. Despite her best efforts to keep her mind on other things, she couldn't prevent her thoughts from drifting.

When she was younger, in her Academy days, Nanao had dreamt, just like any other young girl. In the quiet of her room, she harbored the secret desire to become the greatest kidō master in all of Seireitei. Once, she had thought to be the captain of the Fourth Division, but when her zanpakutō held no ability to heal she was forced to push that idea to the side. Nevertheless, she had always envisioned herself in a white haori, sitting behind her own large desk and running her own division as she saw fit.

But that was before she was transferred to the Eighth Division.

Through the first few trying weeks, Nanao was not so sure that _any _position was worth it if it meant she had to put up with her new, womanizing, pink haori-clad, inebriated Taichō. Nanao stuck it out though, determined not to be so easily run off as the others. Over time, she had eventually learned to see behind the silly presents and detested nickname, to find a captain worthy of following. And, because Nanao believed in loyalty to those who deserved it above all else, she had dedicated the following decades to running the division with him.

If Nanao was honest with herself, she was happy where she was. She had the respect of most of the shinigami in Seireitei, was renowned as a kidō elite, and held the record for lasting the longest length of time as the fukutaichō of the Eighth Division. All of her predecessors had given up within mere months after their promotions.

She had never really contemplated romance and all the complications that went with it. She had dated a few men at the Academy but none of them truly sparked her interest. The only one who had, had left Nanao for another girl who, "wasn't so plain."

Perhaps this was part of the reason that Nanao was constantly annoyed by her Captain's affections. A part of her would always doubt that he truly meant them. She could no longer deny after the previous night that she _wanted_ them to be sincere. For some reason she hadn't quite figured out, she was _severely_ attracted to her Taichō.

She wanted him, yes. It would be easy to have him _that _way if she chose to; all she had to do was say the words. But it wasn't quite so clean and simple, as last night had proven.

If she could barely face her Taichō after their. . . _incident,_ how would she ever be able to face him if they slept together? What would happen when their relationship ended, as it was inevitably bound to do when he grew tired of her, just like all the other women? What would she do when he moved on to 'someone less plain?' How could she go on having to see him every single day?

Nanao knew she wouldn't be able to. She would have to transfer squads, and then, even if they managed to keep their relationship a secret, _everyone_ would know that _something_ had occurred between them. And seeing as most of Seireitei had bets going as to when her Captain would finally wear her down, she knew that if people assumed the worst, it wouldn't be that far from the truth.

Nanao traced the scar that ran the length of her torso, biting her lip as she viewed the puckered flesh. _It's so ugly,_ was all she could think. If she had been plain before she didn't want to contemplate what she would be called now. She didn't regret her choice, though. She _couldn't._ Her Taichō might have lived had she not done what she did, but her action was the only thing that ensured his safety.

Sighing, Nanao acknowledged the fact that she had to face her Taichō sometime. She submerged herself in the cooling tub, rinsing off the errant bubbles from her lavender soap. A loud knock on the door startled her, causing her to inhale a large amount of water. She dragged herself out of the tub, spluttering and coughing as her lungs protested against the soapy liquid.

"Nanao-chan are you in there?" There was no mistaking that voice, that reiatsu. Panicking, she shoved herself out of the bath.

"Are you alright? Will you please just open the door Nanao, this is ridiculous!" Shunsui's voice echoed through her small apartment. Nanao hurriedly attempted to find her glasses, but with the soap stinging her eyes she wasn't having much luck.

"Nanao if you don't open this door, I'm going to break it down!"

"No," she breathed, attempting to dry herself. "Not my d―" she broke off her thought however, as the door to her apartment was ripped off its hinges with a resounding bang. She wrapped the towel securely around her, and finally finding her glasses, dashed out into the apartment, still dripping to assess the damage. Hopefully, she could head off her Taichō before he made any real progress into her quarters.

"Nanao," he called from the living room, his voice filled with panic. She heard the rustle of silk as she rounded the corner. If she didn't know any better she'd say he was hurrying. Kyōraku Taichō never hurried to do _anything_.

"Nanao are you―" he trailed off as they simultaneously rounded the corner into the small hallway at opposite ends. Their eyes met, and Nanao's breath caught as Shunsui let his out in a sigh of relief.

"You're alright," he said, smiling softly.

"Of course I'm alright," she huffed, embarrassed and confused. "What's so important that you had to knock my door down to tell me?"

He stared at her wide-eyed. "You never came into the office today. I sent that cute little new recruit to check on you. She said you'd claimed you weren't feeling well. When you didn't come down to the office after an hour I began to worry, so I came to see for myself. When you didn't answer the door, I was scared your wounds had reopened and you were bleeding all over the floor."

"I'm fine," she assured, blushing scarlet as his gaze swept perceptively over her towel-clad frame. She clutched the towel to her chest as an awkward silence filled the space between them, broken only by the sound of dripping water as it ran off of Nanao's body and collected in a puddle by her feet.

"Were you avoiding me this morning, Nanao?" he asked her softly, leaning his broad frame against the wall and looking at her intently.

"No, Taichō," she lied, adjusting her glasses with one hand.

"You're lying to me, Nanao-chan," he contradicted. "You just adjusted your glasses; you always do that when you're either nervous or lying."

Another strained silenced passed between them until Nanao could no longer stand it.

"Taichō, I…" she trailed off, staring at the floor. She had no idea what to say to him after they had been so _intimate_.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night, Nanao," he began and relief washed over her in a warm wave. He had apologized, she would forgive him and they could forget it ever happened.

"It's understandable, Taichō, we both had a little too much to drink―"

"I wasn't drunk last night, Nanao and neither were you," he stated matter-of-factly. "I was going to say that I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night but it was one of those things which had to be said."

Nanao glared at him from beneath her water-flecked frames.

"No it didn't Taicho," she said as anger blossomed inside of her. Wasn't it _he _who had backed her into a corner and kissed her senseless? How _dare _he take it upon himself to ruin their relationship to fulfill his selfish desires.

"None of it _had_ to be said," she fumed. "Why did you have to ruin everything? What are we supposed to do now? Every time I see you all I can think of is…" she trailed off, bowing her head and attempting to rein her anger in.

"Is what, Nanao?" he asked, pushing himself off of the wall and coming to stand in front of her. "How glorious it felt? Ah, Nanao," he said, wrapping her in his embrace. "There is so much more I could show you if you'd only give me the chance."

She shook her head, meeting his gaze with a desperate defiance. "Taichō, kindly remove your arms from me this instant," she stated, feeling more confident that their conversation was back on familiar territory.

"You didn't seem to mind my arms so much last night, Nanao-chan," he teased, pulling her in closer.

Okay, maybe it was not so familiar territory.

"Sir, this is highly inappropriate. What if someone should walk by and see us like this?" She took a step backwards, inching toward the neatly stacked pile of books in the corner of the hallway, which she had yet to sort categorically and alphabetically onto the shelves that ran around her entire apartment.

"Then they will just be jealous that they are not in my position," he replied, angling his head and leaning slightly closer. She reached an arm behind her, leaning as far back out of his embrace as possible without losing her balance. Her hand grasped the corner of one large tome and Nanao grinned inwardly in triumph.

"You aren't really going to hit me with that very large book you have hidden behind your back if I try to kiss you, are you, my lovely Nanao-chan?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you know I had a book?" she questioned suspiciously.

"Because Nanao," he replied simply. "Wherever you are, there's bound to be a book somewhere. I just happened to have an incredible run of good fortune last night."

His calloused hand traced her bare shoulder and she couldn't repress a shiver. _That_ look was back in his eyes and Nanao knew she had to end this _now _before she gave in again and made things even _more _complicated.

"Taichō, I will ask you one last time to let go of me," Nanao said as coldly as she could muster.

"_Never_, Nanao," he replied determinedly, cupping her neck to bring their lips together once more.

WHACK.

"Yare, Nanao!" he cried, rubbing his cheek, reddened by the force of Nanao's blow. "Did you have to hit your poor Taichō so hard?"

"I did warn you," she said. "Now, if you'll remove yourself from my quarters, I can be in the office in fifteen minutes and we can start on all of the paperwork you neglected this week."

Shunsui sighed sadly. "So we're back to this then, are we?"

There was something in his tone that surprised Nanao. He sounded as if he had just been … _rejected. _

Without thinking, she laid a hand on his arm in a comforting motion. "For the time being, yes. I just…need some time to think."

As Nanao's brow knit in confusion, clad in only a towel, she was breathtakingly adorable. Shunsui wondered when he had learned to control himself so well, seeing as he usually wasn't one for delaying gratification of any kind.

"Can I at least give you something to think about, Nanao-chan?" he asked hopefully.

"You are so infuriating!" she cried in frustration, placing a forceful shove to his chest as she made to brush past him into the bedroom, forgetting the puddle of water on the floor.

Unprepared, Shunsui slipped and lost his balance, falling to the floor. As his hand was still grasping Nanao's towel at the time and Nanao was still clinging protectively to the piece of fabric, he unintentionally dragged her down with him.

They landed with a dull thud and a small grunt of pain from Shunsui, who immediately found the bright light in the situation when he realized that a scantily clad Nanao was sprawled across his chest.

"Yare, yare, Nanao-chan," he sighed dramatically. "If you made up your mind that quickly, all you had to do was tell me." Blushing furiously, Nanao huffed indignantly, sitting up as best as she could given the situation. Shunsui wondered how long it would take her to notice she was straddling his waist in a _very _provocative position.

She had very little time to consider it however, as the moment Nanao went to open her mouth to form a bumbling apology; a concerned looking Matsumoto Rangiku rounded the corner.

"Ise, are you al―" she broke of mid-sentence, her eyes bulging comically. "Oh gods!" she exclaimed, her hand covering her mouth in shock as her eyes absorbed their position and Nanao's current state of undress.

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A/N: Another chapter completed. Review or I'll hire you out as personal assistant to Don Kanoji. Boo ha ha ha!

P.S. Does anyone know what squad Nanao originated from before she became V.C. of the Eighth? Pwese? It's important to my plot development.


	8. Stars

A/N: Over one hundred reviews! (Breaks out bottles of sake and pink haoris for everyone in honor of the occasion) I'd like to thank all of the little people…Anyway; I honestly would like to thank everyone for taking the time to review. Seeing as next week is finals week, I probably won't have much time to write Chapter Nine, but I assure you it's all swirling around in my brain just waiting to be written. Also, I am introducing just one made up character who matters to the plotline so you can all just deal with it. Her name is rather fitting, though I won't tell you why until the end. And as I believe I left you, Nanao, Shunsui, and Matsumoto in a rather embarrassing situation, I'll let you get on to enjoying the chapter!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Eight: Stars**

Nanao's head snapped up, staring in horrified disbelief at her shocked friend's face, her glasses slipping down her nose as her sodden fringe fell into her eyes. She opened her mouth, attempting to form words but couldn't seem to find the ability.

"Why _hello_, Ran-san!" Shunsui said cheerily, angling his head from his position under Nanao to better view his favorite drinking partner. "What brings you here?"

Lowering her hand from her mouth, Matsumoto arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow. "I came to see if Nanao was alright since she missed the meeting this morning." A smirk blossomed on her face. "But I see you're busy."

"Not at all," he assured, grinning up at Nanao who was still frozen in humiliation. She was muttering what sounded like, 'this cannot be happening' over and over again like a mantra. "Nanao-chan, Rangiku came all the way from the Tenth Division to visit you. Aren't you going to greet your friend?"

Snapping out of her daze Nanao gripped her poor excuse for a garment tightly in one hand and pushed her glasses up with the other one. From behind the lenses she fixed Shunsui with a glare that could have had even the most fearless shinigami quaking in his sandals.

"Taichō, please refrain from speaking," she grit out, shoving him down roughly as she scurried to stand up. "Rankigu," Nanao began reticently, biting her lip. "This is _**not**_ what it looks like."

"Oh, but Nanao, I _really _hope it _**is **_what it looks like!" Matsumoto gushed, clasping her hands in front of her swelling chest. "I am _so_ happy for you!" she squealed, rushing forward to fling her arms around her best friend's neck before skipping over to give Shunsui the same treatment, jumping up and down happily. "I mean, _**FINALLY**_!"

"But Rangiku―" Nanao began but was cut off as the blonde wagged a finger at her.

"Now, now, Nanao," she chided, grinning. "There's nothing to be ashamed of. It's only natural to indulge in our desires every now and again, isn't that right Kyōraku-san?"

"Of course, Ran-san," Shunsui agreed standing up and brushing himself off.

"Oh, but who would have thought _you _would be so _bad,_" Matsumoto teased, nudging the furiously blushing Nanao with her hip and winking conspiratorially. "I mean _breaking down the door_ in your rush to get in last night! Even _I've_ never had that happen before…" She trailed off as if pondering exactly _why_ she had never had that happen to her.

"We did not break the door down!" Nanao burst out frustrated. "We didn't _do_ anything. We have never _done_ anything," she exclaimed emphatically.

"Yare, yare, Nanao-chan," Shunsui interjected with an expression of fake hurt on his face. "It's not honorable to lie. You can't deny that we have done _some_ things," he finished with a roguish wink, taking great pleasure as a vein on his fair fukutaichō's temple began to throb at the same time her face turned pinker than his haori. He was pleased to note that the memory of the previous night was still close to her mind even after the interruption.

Matsumoto clapped happily, giggling. "You and I are going to have a _long _conversation tonight," she said squeezing Nanao's hand. "Right now, I have to go and collect from Taichō. I _told_ him I would win!"

Shunsui perked his head up in interest. "So there really is a betting pool then?"

"Erm…I wouldn't know." Matsumoto replied with a hint of nervous laughter, wincing at the fairly murderous aura emanating off of her friend.

Nanao looked about ready to remove her glasses. _Anything but that_.

"This was more of a spur of the moment agreement with Taichō," Matsumoto clarified, her look turning almost predatory. "You both came up in conversation one day. _He_ claimed that Nanao would never give in and that Kyōraku-san would move on. _I, _who knew better, told him that you two were bound to happen eventually. Taichō was so confident that he asked me if I was willing to put paperwork where my mouth was. I told him only if he was willing to put his mouth on mine." She smiled cheekily. "So, my adorable Taichō owes me a kiss, and I'm going to collect it!" Matsumoto, bouncing in excitement turned to exit the apartment.

"I'm sorry, Rangiku," Nanao said through clenched teeth, latching onto her friend's hakama. "You're going to have to find other means of extracting that…_favor _from your Taichō." She turned her ice-cold scowl on Shunsui. "Taichō, I trust you can see yourself out. I'll be down to the office as soon as I'm done speaking with Rangiku. And please send someone over to repair my door. Follow me, Rangiku," Nanao ordered with an air of dignity that few wearing only a towel could muster.

Shunsui stared dreamily at Nanao. In fact, he was imagining in extreme detail what it would be like to have Nanao wandering around his own apartment in a towel every morning. How wonderful it would be to be able to ensnare her in his arms and give the garment one swift tug before muffling her half-hearted protests with his mouth. To know that only he could watch her expressive violet eyes grow cloudy with desire...

He was unduly ripped out of this vision when Nanao went to brush past him, leading a protesting Rangiku behind her. Nanao's foot skidded in the forgotten puddle of water, sending all three of them sprawling on the floor in the entrance to Nanao's living room.

Nanao hadn't thought it was possible to fall in a more embarrassing position than earlier that day, but she wondered if they had just managed it. Raising her head with a soft hiss of protest as her jarred wound throbbed painfully, Nanao realized that she had landed half lying on top of Shunsui, her legs entangled with his and her head cradled by his arm. Mastumoto had landed pressed against his upper thighs.

"Sorry, Kyōraku-san," Matusmoto said, rubbing her mussed head and beginning to sit up.

"Ah, Rangiku," Nanao said hesitantly. "Your erm…" she gestured with one hand to Matsumoto's hakama which had fallen dangerously low, her enormous breasts almost fully exposed. Nanao quickly dropped the hand as she attempted to find the other end of her towel, in order to ensure that the front of her, which was currently exposed and pressed against her captain's side (preventing him from viewing anything), would be covered when she sat up.

"_Oh_," Matsumoto giggled, reaching up to adjust the collar of her uniform. "I've fallen out again!"

It was then when Nanao began to wonder if she had the worst luck of any dead person _ever,_ as the petite new squad member chose _that_ moment to stroll by the door to Nanao's quarters. The girl did a quick double take, pausing in the door, her mouth falling open in shock.

"Salutations, Takahashi-san!" Shunsui greeted jovially. "Nanao-chan, have you met our lovely new division member yet? She's the one I sent to check on you earlier."

Nanao was unable to form any words as her abject humiliation multiplied tenfold. She buried her burning face in Shunsui's shoulder and let out a muffled groan of embarrassment.

"Hello!" Matsumoto grinned cheerfully, waving as she attempted to fit herself back into her top.

"Nanao," Shunsui scolded. "How rude you are, first you won't say hello to your own best friend and now you're being unpleasant to our new member!"

Shaking her head in disbelief, her face bright enough to rival Nanao's, the girl merely turned and walked away mumbling, "_Why, oh why couldn't I have been sent to the sixth squad_?"

Her head still buried in Shunsui's shoulder, Nanao could only nod her assent.

- - -

_Shunsui came to stand behind Nanao as she worked diligently by the flickering glow of the single lamp on her desk. Placing his hands on either side of his fukutaichō, he leant down to view the tedious document over her shoulder. He was so close that she could feel his heat seeping through the back of her uniform. _

"_Yare, Nanao-chan," he rumbled, his breath hot on her already flushed cheek. "You're so tense, you need to relax." He gently freed her hair from the confines of the pins which held it so neatly in place, tossing them carelessly over his shoulder before running his large hand through the threads of ebony silk. _

"_Why don't you just sit there and let me do all the work for once?" he crooned, as his lips placed a warm kiss in the hollow of her throat, his hand slipping into her hakama. She arched in pleasure as he chuckled, his hand gliding ever so slowly lower…_

Nanao slammed her pen on the desk in frustration causing her young female companion to jump in surprise. The petite girl raised her curious eyes, hidden behind her own square frames to meet her fukutaichō's. Nanao blushed slightly.

"I apologize, Takahashi-san," she said, adjusting her glasses. "This… report is rather frustrating." Looking rather skeptical, the brunette returned to sorting files of paperwork into appropriate boxes for delivery and storage.

Nanao observed the girl surreptitiously. After Nanao had finally had finally managed to kick her captain out of her apartment and complete a very lengthy and embarrassingly detailed conversation with Matsumoto before swearing her to secrecy, Nanao had made it a priority to track down the poor girl who had happened by the scene of the _accident _to explain the situation. Though at the end of Nanao's pre-rehearsed speech, the girl had merely flashed her that same dubious look she had moments ago, she had lowered her eyes respectfully and introduced herself as Takahashi Okuni. After exchanging some awkward pleasantries, Okuni had asked if there was anything Nanao could use some help with. Surprised, Nanao had allowed her sort through the files, nodding in approval at the accuracy and efficiency with which the girl was completing her task.

Now she only wished she could complete her own task in the same manner.

That had been the _third_ daydream Nanao had slipped into since beginning her paperwork hours prior. She was growing increasingly frustrated at her inability to keep her thoughts purely professional about her Taichō. While they had not been this for some time now, she usually possessed the control to push her less platonic thoughts aside and finish her paperwork before indulging.

Sighing, Nanao picked up her ink brush once more and poised it determinedly over the document she was currently reviewing. She did not have time for daydreams right now, she had paperwork to complete.

"_Nanaoooooooo-chan!" _

She swore beneath her breath.

"My lovely, radiant, Nanaooooooooooo-chan!" Shunsui called in annoying high-pitched voice as he burst into the office, carrying a large tray laden with food. "I brought you dinner, my ravishing Nanao―" he broke off, staring into Okuni's upturned face. "You're not my Nanao-chan."

"No, sir." Okuni deadpanned before remembering he was her commanding officer. She dropped her gaze slightly, flushing. Shunsui narrowed his eye critically.

"You two could almost be related, except your hair is too light. But you blush just like she does," he smiled wistfully before catching sight of his fukutaichō out of the corner of his gaze. "Ah, but no one is as stunning as my beauteous Nanao-chan," he warbled as he swept over to place the tray on her desk, carefully avoiding the flaming lamp. "I brought you dinner," he repeated softly next to her ear causing her to flush.

"I heard you the first time Taichō," she replied tartly, continuing to write.

"Aren't you going to eat, Nanao?" he asked, concerned. "You haven't been to the mess all day." Ignoring his scrutiny, Nanao kept her eyes focused on her document.

"I will eat when I'm caught up with the paperwork, Kyōraku Taichō," she replied, signing her name at the end of the document and placing it neatly on the 'finished' stack before reaching for a new one.

"_Ah, ah, ah_, Nanao-chan," Shunsui teased, snatching the paper out of her hand. "No more paperwork until you've eaten everything on that tray."

"Taichō, _please_…" Exasperated, Nanao went to reach for the document he was dangling above her head, but ended up hissing pain as her stiff shoulder protested painfully at the movement. She bit her lip and sunk back into her chair, attempting to hide how sore her wound really was.

"So, your shoulder is still bothering you?" Shunsui asked, depositing the document on top of the 'yet to be completed' stack, and taking the opportunity to pluck the pen out of her grasp. "Why didn't you tell me, Nanao?" he asked, his brow furrowed in concern as he leaned on the desk directly in front of her, crossing his arms. "You should have gone to see Unohana-san."

"I'm _fine_, Taichō," she said, gazing determinedly in front of her before realizing exactly _what _she was eye level with. Blushing, she lifted her head to meet his eyes as he chuckled in amusement. "I've just been sitting too long in one position. I'll take some pain medication when I go back to my quarters."

"Are you sure some reiatsu wouldn't help more?" Shunsui asked, only half in jest. Nanao reddened further, unable to tear her eyes from his as her earlier fantasy surfaced again in her mind. The question hung, an invitation suspended by the tangible amount of tension resonating between the two. Sensing this, Okuni secured the lid on the last box of files and stood up.

"I'm finished with the filing, Ise Fukutaichō," she said, her eyes glancing amusedly between her superior officers. "It's rather late; I think I'll go to my quarters now, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Nanao replied distractedly, not even looking at Okuni. With a small smirk and an elegant bow, the girl exited the room as quickly and quietly as possible, leaving Shunsui and Nanao alone in the dimly lit office. They remained still for a few moments longer.

"You should eat something before the food gets cold, Nanao," Shunsui said quietly, breaking the silence.

"Hai," she responded just as softly. He shifted to his feet, moving the tray to the middle of the desk before perching himself on the corner of the large surface. He retrieved a bottle of sake out of the folds of his robe and cracked it open as he watched her begin to eat. When he was satisfied that she was actually going to consume the contents of the tray, instead of merely pick at the food, he struck up a conversation, hoping to put his incredibly tense and exhausted fukutaichō at ease.

As he regaled her dramatically with all of the excitement of morning drills she had missed, Shunsui surveyed her critically in the dancing light. She was getting too thin again and she had dark circles under her eyes despite the fact that she'd overslept that morning. And her wound really was bothering her, he noticed, as she continually kept rolling her left shoulder slightly and arching her back when she thought he wasn't looking.

"You need to take better care of yourself, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said as she neatly stacked her finished plates on the tray. He enjoyed watching her incredible eyes widen almost imperceptibly behind her glasses. Even though they had this conversation every few months, it always surprised her when he brought it up.

"I do take care of myself, sir," she replied stiffly.

"Ah, so _that's_ why you haven't eaten all day and I found you doing paperwork at a quarter after eleven when you're still recovering from a severe slash wound."

Shunsui corked his bottle of sake and slid off of her desk as she stood, preparing to walk the tray back to the mess hall so it could be cleaned.

"I would have come into the office today but I thought you wouldn't appreciate it, after the ah…_incident_ this morning." He moved to stand behind her, taking pleasure in the fact that her movements stilled when his hands slid sensuously up her thighs to grip her hips.

_When did he learn how to read me so well_? was all Nanao could think as his thumbs traced small patterns where they rested and the delightful feel of his warmth soaked into her back, her skin breaking out in goose bumps.

"I am touched by your concern," she said archly, gripping the tray in her shaking hands and turning around, forcing him to let go of her. "I didn't know you cared so much about your paperwork."

He chuckled lowly, sending thrills down Nanao's spine. "Is it so wrong to not see the point of putting serious effort into things I don't care about, like paperwork? I prefer to conserve my energy for things that really matter to me." His voice grew suddenly soft and serious as he maneuvered her to face him. "Like you, my Nanao-chan."

He lifted her gently until she was sitting on her desk, the tray a defensive barrier between them.

"Nanao," he breathed, lifting a hand to stroke a rebellious lock of hair behind her ear.

Her heart was pounding a primal drumbeat, every vein in her body echoing to its spastic rhythm as his touch sent heat scorching straight through her. Confused and defensive, Nanao reacted the only way she new how, by forming a large threatening ball of reaitsu. She brought her hand back, expecting to meet contact with his shoulder, or even the air. What she did not expect was for him to catch her wrist with his own hand. He held her arm firmly, but not painfully in his calloused grip, as his earthen eyes met her own. She wondered if perhaps she had threatened him one time too many.

Feeling utterly defenseless, Nanao watched in surprised amazement as Shunsui deliberately formed his own flare of reiatsu with his free hand before bringing his palm to hers with an agonizing slowness.

The tray slipped off of Nanao's lap with an unheeded crash as pure, unadulterated pleasure coursed through her at the contact. Shunsui wove their hands together, using them to tug her gently to the edge of the desk. Her legs opened of their own violation and he fit himself snugly between them, relishing the contact.

She moved against him as their reiatsu's soared, intertwining as their bodies longed to. He groaned, his free hand coming to rest on the small of her back, gripping the fabric of her uniform as he attempted to free her skin.

Nanao used her free hand to rip open her shirt. She had never wanted to beg for anything so badly in her life, to give in to someone so badly in all of her life. She whimpered when he broke the connection between their hands, only to muffle her scream of pleasure moments later when he ripped the bandages around her chest in one tug and placed both of his hands along the healing wound.

She brought him even closer to her with trembling thighs, clawing his shirt open with fumbling hands, lighting her reiatsu once more. She wanted him to feel exactly what he was doing to her, _needed_ him to feel it too. She placed her hand directly over his heart, feeling his pulse race in time with hers, as her body trembled with the combined force of their spirit power. Convulsing as the heat built; she ground her hips against his, barely noticing as her name escaped his lips almost like a prayer.

"_Nanao…_"

Just when she thought she would go insane from need at the same time her body couldn't possible handle anymore, his mouth slanted over hers.

And when the solitary lamp spluttered and died, all Nanao could see were stars.

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A/N: REVIEW…or I will tell Karin Kurosaki you want to play goalie in the kids' next soccer game…That hurts just thinking about it… 


	9. The Trouble with Nanao

A/N: Whoo hoo, school is almost out! I had my last final today and spent the rest of it in a terrible mood because I feel I did rather poorly on it. Despite this, I felt obliged to edit and post this next chapter for you, my beloved readers. I am hoping that I will be able to update faster now that I have almost broken free of that hell-hole called school (chisels another tally mark in the side of the cell wall). Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's sort of a transition into where the feces hit he proverbial fan!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Nine: The Trouble with Nanao**

Cocooned in warmth, Nanao sighed as she slid back into consciousness regretfully. She felt as if she could easily cuddle in closer to her Taichō and glide back into sleep within seconds. She absolutely _adored _how warm he was.

As her fatigued brain belatedly realized exactly what she had just thought, Nanao started. She blinked rapidly, her eyes combating the darkness of the room, struggling to make out a semblance of where she was and who she was with.

_It wasn't a dream then,_ Nanao realized as she lifted her head from where it was tucked neatly underneath Shunsui's chin. She was lying on top of him, both of them sunk into well-worn cushions of the sofa in the corner of the office.

Her tangled hair fell into her eyes as she gazed at the man under her, his breathing deep and even. Regret wormed its way into her stomach like a parasite, feeding off of her high emotions. _You crossed a line Ise Nanao, one you shouldn't have crossed._

She pushed off of the couch hesitantly, trying to extricate herself from her Taichō's embrace without waking him. Nanao wasn't sure exactly what she would do if he stirred just then.

The rustle of silk startled her. She caught his prized haori as it slid from her shoulders. She remembered now, he had enveloped her in it after they had finished…whatever it was they had done. Nanao draped the vibrant fabric over her Taichō in the hopes that if someone did walk into the office before he woke up, they would think he merely drank too much again and fell asleep. No one would have any reason to consider her part of the equation.

Covering her bare chest with her arm, Nanao darted over toward the desk and retrieved her hakama, wrapping it around herself and securing it. She slid her discarded glasses onto her nose and buried the tattered bandages at the bottom of the wastepaper basket. Nanao restacked the plates on the tray as quietly as she could and placed it on her desk. Knowing it would be foolish to waste time looking for her hairpins in the dim light, Nanao examined the office for anything that would have revealed what had occurred earlier.

_What _did_ happen?_ Nanao wondered numbly as she crossed silently to the door. Her chest clenched as she found herself unable to answer the question. _What have we done?_ She bit her lip, the cool night air caressing her warm skin, chilling her. Somehow it seemed fitting for the situation. She glanced over her shoulder at her sleeping Taichō and thought she might burst from the swell of emotion that his tranquil face evoked in her.

"I'm so sorry, Taichō," Nanao whispered softly, before closing the door and stepping out into the pitch black of the night.

She walked slowly back to her quarters, her arms crossed in front of her defensively. As her heart resisted her with every measured step she took, Nanao didn't even notice the glinting eyes that followed her progress through the night.

- - -

When the door closed with a soft click, Shunsui opened his eyes with a remorseful sigh.

_I should have stopped her when I first felt her move,_ he berated himself. _I should have confronted her then_.

But something told him she still wasn't ready.

Shunsui was beginning to wonder if Nanao would _ever_ be ready. She was frightened, he knew that. He could interpret the looks in her eyes just as easily as she could read those books of hers. She had been afraid when he had reached for her, but whether it was fear of him or fear of herself, he _didn't_ know.

Ah, but it had been breathtaking to see fear fade into desire. To watch her shed her neat and prim exterior to reveal the passionate woman who existed beneath the surface, smothered within the tight confines of Nanao's will.

She had spread her wings and he had been prepared to take her flying. To show her all of the benefits that having such a seasoned lover could provide. And…to firmly establish himself as her last.

_Nanao came down from her high, trembling in his arms, her cry ringing in the silence. Confusion blossomed across her face. Shunsui kissed her slowly, warmly. His fingers paused, hooked into her waistband. _

_He doubted she would stop him if he continued but as maddening as it was, he could not allow himself to take her like this. He wanted their first time together to be free of regret and doubt. So it was that even with his own body longing for Nanao, more than he had ever wanted anything in his entire life, Shunsui lifted her in his arms and carried her to the small sofa. _

"_Taichō?" she questioned, her voice sounding more venerable than he had ever heard it before._

"_It's alright Nanao-chan," his lips caressed her temple as she curled her hands into the collar of his open shirt. "I have waited a long time; I can manage a little longer. Just… lay here with me for a little while."_

While it wasn't exactly how he would have directed the evening if things had been different, it had still felt wonderful to hold his Nanao close. Her weight upon his chest served as a reminder that it had indeed happened, that she was _there_ with _him_. He had drifted to sleep dreaming of what could be.

And woke up in a nightmare.

Shunsui had often remarked that all he needed in life was a warm bed, a jug of sake, and a good woman at his side. Over the years that statement had morphed into a warm bed, a jug of sake, and his Nanao-chan at his side.

On the whole he didn't think he wanted that much. He never had. While Nanao considered this being lazy, he called it conserving energy. What Nanao didn't know was that when he truly wanted something, he would go after it relentlessly, with all of the vigor he usually reserved for the appreciation of sake.

He _wanted_ Nanao. And now that he was so close to having her, he wouldn't give up until she was his. He _wanted_ forever; now all he had to do was convince her that she wanted it too.

- - -

Despite the fact that the day was incredibly warm, the atmosphere in the office was frigid. Making it incredibly apparent to everyone in the Eighth Division that something was wrong. _Very _wrong.

Ise Fukutaichō was acting strangely and Kyōraku Taichō hadn't been into the office at all and it was nearing two o'clock. He _always_ stopped by the office at least _once_ in the morning, even on his laziest days, to 'greet his Nanao-chan.'

Whispers carried through the balmy spring air faster than sake on a division party night. Had their beloved squad leaders actually fought? Sure, they bickered all the time but Kyōraku Taichō and Ise Fukutaichō had never been known to actually have a full scale argument that wasn't resolved moments later.

The two shared a close and unique bond that was rivaled by few other division duos, except perhaps the Tenth Division's Hitsugaya Toshirō and Matsumoto Rangiku. While they appeared to be polar opposites at first glance, they complemented each other perfectly and more importantly, they seemed to always understand one another. Until now.

Kyōraku Taichō had been suspiciously absent from the division's usual midmorning drill session. Ise Fukutaichō had led training by herself, let them go early, _and_ failed to correct the fifth-seat's purposefully horrible kidō technique. Then, the tenth-seated member had gone to talk with Nanao about a personal problem she had been having. Instead of the usual cup of strongly brewed tea combined with unhurried, calculated, yet caring advice dispensed across the broad surface of the desk, Nanao had responded in a hollow voice that she didn't have time to stop and talk. As the afternoon wore on, squad members began skirting the office to avoid verbal abuse, especially those who were wearing pink.

Yes, it was decided by general consensus, something was incredibly wrong between Kyōraku Taichō and Ise Fukutaichō. Yet no one had been able to find their Captain in order to inquire about exactly _what_ had happened and no one was brave enough to risk being caught at the receiving end of their Fukutaichō's kidō spells. Curious to test their varying theories, the squad members sent in the only person who couldn't refuse the job.

So it was that Takahashi Okuni found herself peeking hesitantly around the door of the division headquarters. Little had the rest of the squad members known that the petite, bespectacled shinigami was carrying a strange set of orders for their Fukutaichō in addition to her unofficial mission.

"Um, Ise Fukutaichō?" she began timidly, stepping into the office.

"What is it?" Nanao snapped, her voice sounding strained. She did not even look up from her desk where she was sorting out the new paperwork. Okuni adjusted her glasses as they slipped down her nose, startled at Nanao's behavior.

"Are...are you _alright_?" Okuni inquired, not able to stop herself.

"I am _fine_, Takahashi-san," Nanao responded, her voice soft and low. It almost sounded as if the vice-captain was trying to convince herself and not succeeding.

_You keep telling yourself that,_ Okuni thought wryly, fighting to keep the eyebrow that always arched cynically from raising. "Oh. I um… I have orders for you from Kyōraku Taichō," she continued, noting how her commanding officer's head shot up at the pronouncement.

"Pardon me?" Nanao asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"I have orders from Kyōraku Taichō," Okuni repeated, her hand fingering the length of midnight blue ribbon around her neck, from which hung a small, delicate hell butterfly. "You are to report to him at once. He is waiting for you near the west gate. He said you would know where that was."

Nanao sat back in her chair, folding her ink-stained hands thoughtfully. _Is this some kind of joke?_ She wondered. _He never gives me order. Except for battle, where I'm always ordered to stay back. _"Did he say why he wanted me, Takahashi-san?" Nanao asked quietly, not looking up. She already thought she knew the reason why.

"No, but he requested that you bring something to eat because he knows you haven't eaten all day and says it's not healthy." Okuni regarded her superior officer through her horn-rimmed glasses. "You look _awful_ Ise Fukutaichō." Her eyes widened and she hung her head shamefully as Nanao looked at her incredulously.

"Forgive me, Fukutaichō, I am just concerned." Okuni brushed her bangs behind her ear. "Actually, everyone in the squad is worried that you and Kyōraku Taichō had an argument. They think he finally went too far this time."

In an uncharacteristic motion Nanao propped her elbows on the desk and rubbed her face with her hands mumbling, "One of us went too far, anyway."

Lifting her head, she adjusted her own lenses and stood up. "Thank you, Takahashi-san. Please tell Kyōraku Taichō I'll be there as soon as I can get something to eat from the mess."

"How did you know he was waiting for an answer?" Okuni asked slightly amazed.

"Even he is not stupid enough to give me an order and expect me to follow it," Nanao replied grimly.

_It's time to end this. For good._

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A/N: Review! Or you'll have to take Bonnie the Pig out for her daily exercise. (Can anyone say Soul Society Rodeo Show?) 


	10. Young and in Love

A/N: School's out! So, in celebration, here's a brand new chapter! I'm going to try and publish the next one before I go on vacation next week, but I have a friend who's leaving to go work in Disney World, so I'm making him a good luck gift which could eat into some of my time. While I'm sure that you're all going to hate me after you read this chapter, hopefully it won't prevent you from reviewing it anyway!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Ten: Young and in Love**

A shadow fell across Shunsui as he lay on a large blanket, his hat pulled low over his eyes to shade them from the brilliant sunshine. Noticing the change in light filtering through the straw, he tipped the brim up to view his guest better.

"Ah, Nanao-chan, it's really you." He tilted his head to better view how wonderful she looked framed in sunlight and floating sakura blossoms. "When that adorable Okuni found me the last time, I thought it was you at first. I must say that despite the fact that the girl is enjoyable company I was severely disappointed," he stated, clutching his heart melodramatically. "I thought that you had sought me out to finish what we started last night."

Noticing that she hadn't moved at all, he patted the space on the blanket next to him. "Won't you come and sit down with me?"

Hesitantly, Nanao moved to kneel on the blanket. She carefully placed the food-laden basket between them, maintaining as much distance as possible. "I brought the comestibles you requested, sir," she said, attempting to keep her tone cold and even.

"The comest-what? Oh, the food. Thank you, Nanao-chan," Shunsui replied, sitting up and going to open the rim of the basket. Her hand was still resting distractedly on the handle and he covered it with his own. Nanao stared at their hands for a moment, before tearing hers out of Shunsui's grip. She placed it pointedly in her lap, turning her head away from him.

"Taichō what―" she began, but he was already busy unloading the contents of the basket.

"You didn't happen to bring any sake with you, Nanao-chan?" he asked, glancing up at her in inquiry.

"You know how much I detest it, sir," she replied stonily, her face still turned away from him.

Shunsui was very tempted bring up the _last_ _time_ she had drunk sake and what a lovely time it had turned out to be, but decided not to push his luck.

"Ah, how many disappointments can a man take in one day?" he sighed dramatically. "First I had to _send_ for you and _now_ there's no sake to be had. Oh well," he continued, "I cannot be _too_ disappointed. After all, I have the sakura blossoms, a lovely lunch, and my Nanao-chan to share it with."

Shunsui regarded her face carefully. "Won't you eat something? I can't have my Nanao-chan wasting away on me." She blanched visibly, biting her lip.

"With all due respect _sir_, I realized long ago that despite my protests you would continue to call me by that deplorable nickname but I would ask you if you would please refrain from placing the word 'my' in front of it." His brow furrowed as her voice remained devoid of the quiet passion he had grown accustomed to.

"But you have _always_ been _my_ Nanao-chan," he replied, fighting the urge to turn his body so that she would be forced to look at him.

"I belong to no one sir, _especially_ you."

Was she _trying_ to break his heart as well as her own? Did she _always_ have to be so difficult? _Of course,_ came the answer. _Otherwise you wouldn't love her like you do._

"Well, what I call you won't even matter to you if you die of starvation," he said, forcing himself to change the subject. "Eat something. That's an order." Nanao looked up at him, her eyes wide in shock. "If you're going to be so damn formal, then I will be too. Eat."

She obeyed automatically still slightly taken aback at the naked command in his voice. "Thank you," she said quietly, accepting the food he offered. She was careful not to touch his hand in the process.

"You're welcome, my Nanao-chan," he replied warmly before taking a large bite out of the sandwich he was holding. They ate in silence. While silence was not unusual between them, both of them noticed that something was different. The air was charged with the words both wanted to express but neither knew quite how. It was far from the accustomed, comfortable peace which frequently filled their lulls in conversation.

Shunsui studied his favorite subject as he thoughtfully chewed the remaining bites of his sandwich, observing that she had barely eaten hers. Her back was ramrod strait, her movements harsh and automatic, possessing none of the inherent grace he always attributed to his Nanao.

"You should relax Nanao, I'm surprised your spine hasn't cracked from how rigidly you are sitting," he commented, watching her bristle. Washing down his sandwich with a swig of water, Shunsui could not hide his concern as his Fukutaichō finished the first half of her own, wrapping the second half neatly in its napkin and placing it back into the basket. Glancing up, their eyes caught and she ducked her head hastily, just like before.

It disturbed him deeply. Usually, whenever their gazes held, Nanao regarded it as a challenge, her stubborn nature refusing to let her be the first to look away.

"Please don't look at me like that," she demanded, her voice low.

He bent his head, trying to peer into her face. "Like what, Nanao-chan?"

"Like you think you need to take care of me," she replied coldly. "I am _not_ a child."

Shunsui could not help the mischievous smile from flitting across his face. "I am _certain_ that you are not a child, Nanao," he replied, his eyes wandering over her form. "But I _do_ feel the need to take care of you. Is it not natural to want to take care of the person who looks after me?"

"I don't―" Nanao started, her head snapping up. She found herself unable to finish the sentence as she looked at him, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"See, you can't even say it, because you know it's not true. You've always been a terrible liar." He grinned nostalgically. "Even from the first week you stepped into my office, we have looked out for one another. You prevent me from drinking too much and I stop you from working too hard. Now," he said, moving the basket off of the blanket and brushing crumbs off of its surface. "You should lie down and enjoy the beautiful sunshine, Nanao-chan."

"No thank you, Taichō," she replied, adjusting her glasses. Now he _knew_ he wasn't going to like the conversation that was bound to occur soon, but that didn't mean he couldn't delay it.

"Lie down, Nanao," he repeated firmly. "I promise I won't touch you," he said gently, guessing the reason she had been trying so hard to seem detached.

"Taichō―," she began but he cut her off.

"Do I have to make it an order, Nanao-chan?" Her eyes flashed briefly behind the lenses of her glasses and he couldn't deny himself the small spark of smug pride that flared in his chest as he finally coaxed a reaction from her. He was beginning to think he was loosing his touch.

Grudgingly, Nanao lay down on the blanket, folding her hands neatly over her stomach. Her heart was pounding fiercely and she cursed her weakness for not being able to broach the subject she had come to discuss. Ignorant of her inner turmoil, Shunsui picked up a well worn book she had not noticed previously. Opening it to one of the dog-eared pages he began to read aloud.

It was love poetry.

Nanao had to hold back an incredulous laugh at how absurd the situation was. She had come here to draw the proverbial line in the sand and he had her basking in the sun listening to him read love poetry.

_Why couldn't it be easy?_ she thought helplessly. _Has anything ever been easy when dealing with him?_ rejoined a sly voice. Sighing, Nanao tried to relax. His deep voice was melodic and soothing. Her eyes drifted shut as she let the words wash over her. She didn't even notice when the shadowy figures of the poem's subjects in her imagination gradually took on very familiar forms.

- - -

"_The hot slide of tongues. Heat flows through veins, like lava down the side of a volcano melting away resistance. Hands entwine, an anchor in the storm as bodies undulate like the tide, rising and falling_."

Nanao's hands fisted in the blanket. She was now thoroughly _not_ relaxed. She should not have been affected like _this_. Her Taichō was only reading a poem and a rather bad poem at that. But to hear _him_ say those words…

"_Come move with me_," he read, his voice low and husky. Nanao didn't think she could take anymore before her control snapped and she did the exact opposite of what she came here to do. "_Let the passion build until we crash upon the shore―"_

"**This is ridiculous**!" Nanao burst out furiously. Startled, Shunsui turned to face his flushed fukutaichō.

"Do you not like the poem, Nanao-chan?"

"It has nothing to do with the poem. We can't do this!" she stated emphatically, sitting up. Shunsui arched an eyebrow, folding down the corner of a page, making Nanao cringe at the action despite her agitation.

"Do what?" he asked, setting the book down on the blanket.

"Lie here in the grass while you read me poetry. Like …_lovers_!"

"Isn't that what we are, Nanao?" Shunsui asked, reaching a hand out to caress her cheek. "Or at least what I hope we will be in the near future."

"No. No we are _not_ lovers." She jerked her face of out of his grasp as if his touch had suddenly turned caustic. "We _aren't_…we _can't_ be…" Nanao swallowed as her voice broke.

"Why not, Nanao?" Shunsui asked gently, his arm circling her waist and pulling her to his side. "You're young and I'm in love, I don't see what is so impossible about it."

He chuckled when her sad violet eyes met his, her mouth slightly open in alarm at what he had just admitted. "You hadn't figured that out yet on your own, my intelligent Nanao-chan?" he asked, drawing her even closer. Her hand shot out as she braced herself on his arm, preventing him from bringing her onto his lap. He frowned as she leaned back away from him.

"This isn't the type of treatment a man expects when he's just told a woman he loves her."

"You should know," Nanao responded bitterly.

"Now, what's that supposed to mean?"

Shunsui tightened his grip on her as she attempted to rise. "We shouldn't be having this conversation," Nanao tried desperately, struggling against him.

"It's about time we have this conversation," he objected. "I refuse to let you go until answer my question. Why is it so hard for you to accept the fact that I'm in love with you?"

"_Fine_," Nanao snapped, jerking her gaze up to his. "Maybe it's difficult to accept because you've probably said it to every woman you ever seduced into the sheets!"

"Is that what you think this is?" His eyes searched hers.

"I don't know _what_ to think anymore," she replied, tears rising to her eyes. "I'm just _so tired_ of fighting you. _You_ and your stupid presents and silly nicknames. I'm tired of being attracted to you against my better judgment and not being able to do anything about." She let out a bitter laugh, wiping away the hot tears that she could no longer hold back. "I've been thinking for a while now that I should just let you have me so you can toss me aside and move on to the next woman and I can _finally_ gain control of my life again!"

Nanao turned her head away from him, attempting to stifle the sobs that threatened to overwhelm her. She would _not_ break down in front of him.

"_Look at me, Nanao_," he commanded quietly. When she refused to comply, he lifted her chin in his hand and held it there, willing her to see the truth in his eyes.

"It's true that I haven't loved every woman who has come to my bed, but I have loved some of them. The others knew the truth full well and the relationships we had were satisfying at the time and mutually enjoyable. What's between us is something totally different, Nanao. I have never met anyone like you in my entire lifetime and I'm not stupid enough to think I'll find another. I love you and I still can't believe that after everything we've been through, you're still questioning me. Why can't you believe it?"

Her gaze dropped to her hands. "I…I believe that you _think_ you love me," she said quietly. "But what would happen if others found out? We would be breaking a serious protocol. What will happen when you wake up one morning and realize that I'm not enough for you anymore and you decide to move on to someone less plain? Am I supposed to transfer divisions? Resign?"

Shunsui could not miss how different the second question sounded from the first one. She was convinced that he was bound to 'toss her aside' as she put it. And the utterly hollow way she had said the last part struck a chord in him. Instinctively, he knew that someone had said that to her before. He did not realize that he had voiced the last part of the statement aloud until she stiffened in his embrace.

"Tell me," Shunsui pleaded softly, resting his head on top of hers. "Please."

It was when she began to speak without truly knowing why, that Nanao finally acknowledged that she could not deny him something that was in her power to give. It scared her more than anything had in her entire life.

"It was a long time ago at the academy," she said ruefully. "I had always been quiet. I didn't know many people until I met Rangiku and she adopted me into her group of friends. I was still slightly reserved and preferred to keep my feelings to myself. There was a boy who used to hang around Rangiku after school." She paused, recalling a memory she had tried so hard to forget.

"He had a reputation as a womanizer, but he was always so gentlemanly around us. He had this self-deprecating sense of humor and an intellect which I found incredibly attractive. I soon realized that he had feelings for Rangiku but that didn't stop me from falling in love with him." Nanao snorted at how pathetic she had been.

"They eventually dated for two weeks before she ended it. Less than three days later, he found me when I was sitting alone in the library. He sat too close and said all the right things. He said he realized he loved me, that he had wasted his time with Rangiku when I had been in front of him all along. He took me to dinner that night and then back to his quarters." Her voice broke once more but she continued, trying to finish before she lost it completely.

"I…_gave_ myself to him and _he_…he called her name. In the morning, when I confronted him about it he told me that he had… had a nice time but needed someone… _less plain_. He was killed by a hollow two weeks later during a training session in the real world. Even after he broke my heart, I still cried for him." Unable to hold back the tears anymore, the feelings of her own inadequacy, she buried her face in his shoulder.

The sound filled silence was deafening.

"Does Matsumoto know?" Shunsui asked finally, his brain reeling as he finally understood why Nanao kept resisting him. Why she kept denying _both_ of them because this _ass_ led her to think so little of herself. To make her believe she would never be enough to make anyone happy.

"No," Nanao replied, wiping her eyes forcibly with her sleeve. "I never told her. It wasn't her fault."

"Is that why you left last night?" he asked pulling away from her slightly to gauge her reaction.

Her jaw was set and determined despite the fact that a rebel tear was trailing down her cheek. "I left because I realized that I let this progress too far. We do not belong together and that's the end of it."

"If the reason you left is because you're scared of getting hurt, then there's nothing stopping us," Shunsui protested. "And don't give me that bullshit about rank, either," he interrupted when she opened her mouth to reply. "We wouldn't be the first taichō and fukutaichō to have a relationship and I daresay we won't be the last if Rangiku-san has her way."

He took one of the hands resting in her lap in his own, winding their fingers together. He drew her closer, eliminating the space between them. "I am sorry that you were hurt, Nanao-chan," he said gently. "But the man couldn't have been as intelligent as you claim because you are _anything_ but plain." He cupped her chin in his free hand. "I'm not sorry that it turned out this way however, or else you might not have worked so hard and been transferred to the Eighth. I told you once that we are inevitable and I still believe it."

Her glassy eyes met his. Shunsui leaned forward so that their lips were almost touching.

"Won't you give me your heart, my beautiful Nanao? I promise I'll take good care of it." Without waiting for an answer, he meshed their mouths together.

The glide of his lips was soft, the tangible form of the burning question still hanging in the air between them.

The painful sting of her slap was answer enough.

Nanao wrenched herself out of his hold and scrambled to her feet. "If you don't stop pursuing me like this, I swear I will file for harassment."

"_Nanao_―" Shunsui began desperately, but she had already shunpo-ed away.

He sighed, running his fingers though his hair in despair.

Nature almost seemed empathetic to his plight as blossoms swirled about him in the warm breeze. Glancing around, it looked as if the trees were weeping.

Shunsui couldn't help but wonder if locked tight in her quarters, as she no doubt was, if his Nanao was doing the same.

- - -

Nanao awoke with a start. Sighing, she rolled over, staring at the ceiling.

She had blubbered herself into a fitful sleep hours earlier, despite her best efforts to pull herself together. She was surprised she hadn't overrun the bathtub when she decided that a hot bath would make her feel better. It hadn't done anything but make her remember the warmth of her Taicho's embrace.

Nanao rolled off of the mattress, thinking she might walk down to the mess hall to make herself a cup of tea. No one would be around at this time of night; she probably wouldn't even have to change. She made her way over to her closet and drew out the robe made of deep purple silk that Matsumoto had given her last year for her birthday, wrapping it around herself. It made her think of his haori. Nanao swore into the silence.

She slid open the door to her second floor residence and padded barefoot across the boards to lean on the railing of the walkway, gazing despondently into the night. She paused, startled to see that a light was on in the office.

Even though she hadn't been in the office all afternoon she was certain that no one should be there this time of night. Usually, she was the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. The longer she gazed at the building, the light from its window flickering in the darkness, the more her own instinct hummed.

_Something is wrong_.

Swiftly, Nanao darted back into her apartment, donning a pair of sandals and stowing her zanpakutō inside her robe. Not even pausing to pull her hair up, she grabbed the large ledger she usually carried around to give her an excuse if the disturbance turned it out to be one of the squad members. She slid the door shut behind her, making her way down the stairs and across the square.

She turned the knob of the office door slowly, trying not to alert the potential intruder to her presence. With a creak the door swung open to reveal…

"Taichō!" Nanao gasped in a combination of surprise and in relief before the uneasiness settled in.

Shunsui was sitting sprawled in the middle of the office floor, staring blankly at her desk and clutching a bottle of sake. What looked to be at least ten more bottles were lying scattered around him. He usually only engaged in drinking this heavily when a squad member was lost during battle, an event he always blamed on himself.

_Is this because I rejected him?_ she thought.

"Nanao-chan?" he blinked blearily up at her. "Is that you?"

"Hai, Taichō," she replied, shutting the door behind her and wondering _why_ she couldn't manage avoid him. "I saw the light on in the office and thought something was amiss. Are …are you alright?"

Clutching the tome protectively to her chest, Nanao took a few cautious steps into the room.

"I went to see Jushirō after you left me. He had a relapse right before I arrived," Shunsui replied, his voice a mere echo in the oppressive stillness of the room.

"How is he?" Nanao asked.

"It's never been this bad, before," he stated, washing the statement down with a swig of sake.

"I'll take over your duties tomorrow, so you can be with him," Nanao offered, fearing that Ukitake had finally lost the battle with his illness.

There was a long, drawn out silence.

"I would give anything to Jyū if he asked me for it," Shunsui stated suddenly, startling Nanao.

"I'm sure he knows that," Nanao replied, trying to comfort her obviously distressed Taichō.

Shunsui laughed derisively. "Damn right he knows it. He also knows there's only one thing I couldn't give him but…he asked for it anyway."

"What did he ask you for?" Nanao whispered. She had a feeling that she wouldn't like the answer at all. Shunsui raised his eyes to meet hers and she found herself unable to turn away.

"_You, Nanao-chan. He asked for you_."

The book slipped from Nanao's numb fingers, falling to floor with a resound thud.

* * *

A/N: Review or I will leave you to be suffocated in Matsumoto's Hug of Death! 


	11. Sake for the Pain

A/N: Hellooooo Nurse! Well, here's yet another chapter for you all, my lovely readers. I'm leaving on a week-long vacation tomorrow and I wanted you to have this chapter before I left so I stayed up very late last night finishing it. Please forgive any grammar or spelling errors that might have resulted from me attempting to edit at three in the morning. I'll try to work on the next chapter on the car ride down, but no guarantees. I hope you like it!

* * *

**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Eleven: Sake for the Pain**

"Taichō, you're talking nonsense," Nanao breathed, unable to think of anything else through the haze of her shock.

Shunsui laughed hollowly. "I wish I was, Nanao. I wish I was."

Struggling to make sense of this sudden and completely unexpected revelation, Nanao picked up the book which had slipped out of her hands. She hoped desperately that the action would return to her at least a sense of normalcy.

It did not.

"What do you mean…he _asked_ for me?" Nanao inquired quietly, sliding the book onto her desk. "There's no possible way that Ukitake Taichō could have… _feelings_ for _me_."

"No Nanao, he didn't ask for you in _that_ way," Shunsui assured her before mumbling, "It would have been better if he had. Then I could have just punched him."

Nanao ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Then _what_ is going on? Why are you sitting in the middle of the floor drinking like you normally do when somebody has died!"

Shunsui looked up at her in intoxicated indignation. "Don't I have a right to be drinking when I just found out you're going to be transferred?"

Nanao's stomach plummeted.

Her brain could not comprehend anything but the fact that her Taichō had just said the word _transferred_ in a sentence about _her_. _This can't be happening._

She had thought briefly about transferring that afternoon, but couldn't find the heart to seriously consider it. Yes, she had threatened Kyōraku Taichō earlier, but the truth was she _liked_ being in the Eighth Division. Life was never boring. Even after over a century of being second in command, the squad members could do things that surprised even Nanao.

_What am I going to do?_ she wondered in despair. She couldn't picture her life without her Taichō and his ridiculous pink haori. Whatever office she was sent to would seem so _empty_ without his persistent snores drifting towards her desk from the couch.

"_Where_ I am being transferred? _When_? Taichō, this doesn't make any sense," Nanao spluttered.

"You're going to the Thirteenth tomorrow evening," Shunsui replied, his hand gripping the sake bottle tightly. "And it makes perfect sense."

Nanao sank down to her knees in disbelief. She _couldn't _see the logic in it at all.

"But if Ukitake Taichō only asked for me, I'm already _your_ Fukutaichō. They wouldn't transfer me because of one request! Everyone knows _I'm_ the only reason the paperwork gets done around here."

Shunsui stared at her with bloodshot eyes. "Jushirō didn't request you because he _wanted_ to, Nanao. Yama-ji _ordered_ him to choose one of the existing fukutaichōs for transfer to the Thirteenth Division shortly after his relapse."

Nanao gaped at him in dismay. _What a horrible thing to do hours after Ukitake Taichō fell ill again!_ Ukitake Taicho had faced plenty of spates with his disease without having a fukutaichō. Fukutaichōs were there to help their superior officer and run the division in case anything happened to the captain. Oftentimes, if the taichō died suddenly, the fukutaichō of the squad was selected as the next …

_Oh gods_, Nanao shuddered as she finally saw the common thread in it. _They don't think Ukitake Taichō is going to get better this time._

"Have you figured it out yet?" Shunsui asked dully. "Ukitake had to choose the fukutaichō he thought would best replace…" he trailed off, staring into the shimmering flame of the single lamp. "They're priming you to be a taichō, Nanao."

"It won't come to that," Nanao said firmly, gazing at his expressive face. His usually animate eyes were leaden as they gazed unseeing at her desk. "It _can't_ come to that. I'll…" her voice hitched and she was forced to take a steadying breath. "I'll… be back here before you know it. Just in time to do all of the end of spring paperwork that will have piled up in my absence."

Shunsui turned to her and she was surprised to see a solitary tear illuminated on his shadowed cheek, like a star in a darkened sky.

"You still couldn't lie to save your life, Nanao," he stated mournfully. The reiteration of the thing he ribbed her about most often only served to rub salt into their bleeding wounds. She shook her head slowly, trying to hold back her own tears.

"There now, Nanao-chan," Shunsui teased half-heartedly, trying to ease the hurt they both were feeling. "You look as if you just lost your best friend."

Their eyes locked. Everything that had happened between them recently suddenly seemed trivial next to the realization that they were going to be separated.

"_That's because I have_," she whispered.

Shunsui reached out to her with one slightly wavering hand. She slid her own into it easily and quickly spanned the gap separating them, kicking sake bottles out of her way. Nanao knelt in front of him for a few moments before flinging herself into his embrace.

The hand not clutching the bottle came up to stroke her hair tenderly. Nanao burrowed closer to him, laying her ear right against his heart.

This was _agony_.

Nanao clung to Shunsui, trying desperately to forget that she had less than a day before _everything_ in changed. Shunsui's legs came up on either side of her. His warmth was comforting, the beat of his heart a soothing lullaby to Nanao's rapidly spinning emotions. But it wasn't enough.

Not enough to make her forget the fact that she was going to be separated from _this_ man who had somehow become and integral part of her life. It wasn't enough to forget that she would never get to argue with him anymore on a daily basis. Not enough to make her forget that she had _rejected_ the man holding her because of her own insecurities. And it definitely was not enough to make her forget that even as she sat there, her tears soaking through his uniform, a part of her was screaming that she should just pounce on him and damn the consequences. If he _had_ been insincere, she would have little time, if any, to dwell on it once she was officially reassigned.

Shunsui lifted the bottle, downing a sizeable portion of the liquid as Nanao watched. Suddenly, drowning her sorrows in sake didn't seem like such a despicable idea.

Her hand closed around his on the neck of the bottle. Still grasping his hand, Nanao raised the bottle to her lips, taking a large swallow, letting the liquid smolder down her throat. Shunsui blinked in confusion. Nanao _never _drank. Well, _almost_ never.

"Nanao-chan, what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, prying the bottle gently from his fingers and taking another swig. "I'm joining you."

"But you don't drink," Shunsui protested. Nanao stared down into the darkness of the container, a perfect expression for the dark depth of her despair.

"It seems like a perfect time to start," she retorted almost inaudibly. "Aren't you always saying a person should never drink alone?" He reached out a sun-browned hand and cupped her cheek, wiping away the most recent tear which had fallen unchecked out of her eye. She leaned into his touch with a quiet sigh.

"You're quite right, Nanao," Shunsui returned, his voice just as soft. "As always."

She handed him the bottle and he polished it off. Nanao glanced around at the scattered bottles. "Do you have anymore?"

"Upstairs," Shunsui said, gesturing vaguely to the staircase somewhere behind them that led to the captain's quarters above the office. "But we could finish off my supply. Then I'll have to go and buy more tomorrow. I'll need it when you leave."

"That's fine," Nanao whispered.

He stood up, an impressive feat for one who had already drunk so much. Nanao wondered idly if her Taichō's alcohol tolerance was so high that he was barely affected anymore.

"I'll probably override the Division's budget again," he warned, turning to look at her as she made her way slowly to her feet.

"That's alright," Nanao replied, slipping her hand into his. "The Eighth Division budget is no longer my responsibility."

Shunsui let out a bark of humorless laughter and tugged her after him, up the stairs where more sake and emotional oblivion waited for them with open arms.

- - -

"Water," Nanao croaked as she opened her eyes blearily. Her throat felt as if it were coated in sandpaper. Her head was throbbing painfully and the sensation only intensified when the bright sunlight that was pouring in the open window stunned her blurred eyes.

"Here you go, Ise Fukutaichō," came a gentle voice and Nanao felt a hand come beneath her, lifting her into a sitting position. Groaning, Nanao took the glass of water which was being held out for her and gulped it greedily. Maybe _this_ was the reason she didn't drink. Forcing herself to slow down before she made herself sick, Nanao moved a hand up to shield her eyes from the accursed light.

"Takahashi-san?" Nanao blinked in surprise as her vision cleared. "What are _you_ doing in Kyōraku Taichō's quarters?"

Had something happened last night that she had been far too drunk to remember? The last thing she had recalled was lounging in Shunsui's bed, drinking sake and reminiscing. No, she assured herself glancing down quickly, swearing as the movement made her head throb, she was still clothed.

"I accompanied Matsumoto Fukutaichō here," Okuni supplied, taking the empty water glass from Nanao.

"Rangiku's here?" Nanao asked, now thoroughly confused. "Why?"

"Kyōraku-san asked me to come 'tend to his Nanao-chan' while he visited Ukitake Taichō," answered a bright voice from the doorway, its volume causing Nanao to wince.

Matsumoto smirked. "From the number of bottles around this place, I'd say you two had a rough night. And you," she scolded, turning to Okuni. "How many times must I tell you to call me Rangiku?"

"Sorry, Rangiku," the brunette apologized, distractedly fingering the hell butterfly suspended around her neck.

"Okuni beaded my scarf for me. Isn't it fun?" Matsumoto asked, holding up the edges of the pink cloth which usually completed her uniform for Nanao's inspection. It was now sporting sparkling rhinestones in a swirling arc. It flashed whenever she moved, forcing Nanao to close her eyes.

"It's lovely," Nanao responded, trying to muster up cheerfulness. Just because she was completely miserable didn't mean her friends had to be too. "It reminds me of Haineko."

"_See_! I told you Nanao would get it!" Matsumoto squealed in excitement, going to clap her hands together but found the action difficult as she was holding a glass in one hand. "Oh," she said sheepishly handing the glass to Nanao. "I forgot I had this."

Nanao surveyed the contents of the glass. She wasn't sure what was in it, but she was convinced that it was bound to cause food poisoning. "What is _this_ supposed to be?"

Matsumoto gave her a look which clearly read 'And how high is your IQ supposed to be again?' "_That_ is Matsumoto Rangiku's Famous Hangover Cure. Drink up," she ordered flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Nanao hesitated.

"_What_?" Matsumoto demanded. "I sell bottles of that to all of the Divisions, well, except the Fourth. It's how I make my extra shopping money." She sighed when Nanao continued to stare dubiously at the glass. "Just drink it, Nanao."

Deciding that the contents of the glass could not taste half as bad as she was feeling right then, Nanao raised the glass to her lips and forced herself to take a large swallow. Matsumoto looked on with pride, Okuni cringing in absolute apprehension and disgust.

"_Now_," Matsumoto said, flopping unceremoniously onto Shunsui's bed. "Do you mind telling me why you decided to drink yourself into a stupor last night instead of bagging your Taichō like you _should_ have?"

Nanao almost spit out a mouthful of the rancid-tasting hangover cure. "_Rangiku_!" she exclaimed as Okuni stifled a giggle.

"_Well_?" Matsumoto asked, arching an eyebrow.

Sighing in frustration, Nanao tucked her hair behind her ear, cupping the glass in both hands. "I'm being transferred. I leave for the Thirteenth this afternoon," she replied, biting her lip as the emotional pain came rushing back to echo her physical discomfort. Glancing up she noticed the downcast looks on both of her friends' faces.

"We know," Okuni replied. "Kyōraku Taichō announced it to the squad this morning. Everyone knew something was wrong when the squad meeting was called for a quarter to ten. He usually doesn't wake up until eleven."

"I _still_ don't understand," Matsumoto interjected, watching Nanao place her empty glass on the nightstand. "You're going to be ridiculously busy, basically running the Thirteenth Division and the Third too, I suppose, because Ukitake Taichō took on most of their work following the betrayal. You had a _perfect_ opportunity to sleep with Kyōraku-san and you decide to drink sake instead!"

Nanao shook her head in disbelief. "I don't think like _you_ do, Rangiku. Besides, that would have been unprofessional and…I don't feel that way for him," she finished, glancing swiftly at Okuni who was looking at her with wide, sympathetic eyes.

"Please Nanao, I think everyone present knows that you are at the very least attracted to Kyōraku Taichō," Matsumoto continued sardonically. Okuni blushed under Nanao's scrutiny.

"I was in the office two days ago, at the time it was quite obvious," she said sheepishly. "If it makes you feel any better, I think Taichō's quite attractive too."

Nanao massaged her temples roughly. Her headache had been improving before they had started this conversation.

"_So_…" Matsumoto prodded.

"So _what_?" Nanao responded, she was in no mood to discuss this right now.

"So _why_ didn't you take action?" the strawberry-blonde demanded.

"I did act," Nanao snapped. "I ended it."

Nanao was on emotional overload after everything that had happened in the last few days; nearly having sex with her Taichō _twice_, having to drudge up memories she'd prayed to forget, and then finding out that she was being transferred. It didn't help that she had the mother of all hangovers and had spent the night wrapped in her Taichō's arms, both of them in an alcoholic daze which had been quite blissful at the time.

Matsumoto gaped at Nanao. She was fairly sure that her best friend had just admitted there had been _something_ actually happening between her and Shunsui. From Okuni's expression of shock, Matsumoto gathered that she hadn't been hearing things.

"Then there _was_ something going on," she began to pry but was cut off as Nanao fixed her with a look that was so desperately pleading and full of pain it caused the words to stick in Matsumoto's throat.

"I have to go…pack my things," Nanao said quietly, extracting herself from the sheets.

"I stopped by your quarters and brought you a uniform Ise Fukutaichō," Okuni said shyly. "It's on the table in the front hall."

"Thank you, Takahashi-san," Nanao replied with as much warmth as she could muster. "It's good to know that I'm leaving the division in capable hands." Nanao paused in the doorway.

"Promise me that you'll take care of my Taichō," she asked without looking over her shoulder.

"H-hai, Ise Fukutaichō," Okuni responded, taken aback. As Nanao left the room silently, the diminutive shinigami couldn't help but glance at Matsumoto who was sprawled on the bed, her usually bright eyes dimmed with sorrow.

"I wonder if she even realized," Matsumoto whispered, "that she called him 'my Taichō.'

- - -

Nanao lifted the small box that contained her most precious personal belongings. There was the first edition print of her favorite novel, the small etched silver box which Nanao used to store the ankle bracelet that Matsumoto had bought her decades ago as a symbol of their friendship. There were a few framed photographs, the letter in which she received notice that she was going to become Fukutaichō of the Eighth Division and the wreath of flowers, now mostly dry, which she had saved from the memorable party after her return from the Fourth Division. And, preserved in its own small frame, wrapped meticulously to prevent anything from happening to it, was the very first flower she had ever received from a man. Shunsui had placed the rose in her hair upon the successful completion of their first ever mission together in the real world.

Stepping out into the bright sunlight, Nanao walked slowly down the stairs that led to her quarters for the last time. She took a deep breath. Knowing that the squad had probably gathered to send her off, she was determined to not let them see how this was affecting her. A fukutaichō was supposed to set the example for the other shinigami, after all.

As she made her way into the square, clutching the box so tightly that her knuckles were white, Nanao felt her heart almost burst with warmth. The entire Division was gathered around the large bag which held all of the things she'd need until the rest of her belongings could be delivered to her new residence. Shunsui was standing in front of the throng, Okuni slightly behind him fingering the butterfly charm around her neck; a gesture which Nanao had come to realize meant she was uncomfortable or upset. She came to a stop in front of the assembled crowd.

"Thank you all for coming," she managed to call out, adjusting her glasses in a way which made her Taichō give a sad smile. A chorus of shouts followed her pronouncement such as 'No, thank you, Ise-Fukutaichō' and 'We'll miss you!'

"Um, Ise-Fukutaichō," Okuni said, stepping forward slightly. She held out a deep blue silk scarf which shimmered purple in the light. Beaded on it in a similar fashion to Matsumoto's was what appeared to be an exploding firework. "I made this for you, I know you probably won't wear it since it violates the dress code but I wanted to give you something anyway. I tried to make the design look like an exploding kidō spell."

"Thank you, Takahashi-san," Nanao said, draping the length of silk around her neck.

"Call me Okuni, please," the petite girl said before launching herself into a surprised Nanao's arms. "I'll miss you, Ise-Fukutaichō. I've only known you a few days but I feel like we're friends."

Nanao gave a small smile as she returned the girl's hug in an uncharacteristic move. "Then you must call me Nanao. It's what friends do, isn't it?" She drew back slightly, making eye contact. "Remember your promise."

"Hai… _Nanao_," Okuni said, brushing away a tear and moving to stand a few feet behind Shunsui. Following her lead, the crowd moved back, allowing their commanding officers the chance to say farewell with some privacy.

Shunsui took a step closer to Nanao, his eyes reflecting all of the pain and sorrow of one who has lived through too many goodbyes.

"It's been over a century since I first saw you walk in the office door, my beautiful Nanao-chan," Shunsui said remorsefully. "But it still seems too short a time to have you at my side." He gently stroked her cheek with calloused fingers. It was a mark of how monumental the occasion was that Nanao made no move to stop him. "May I give you one last present, lovely Nanao?"

She nodded, unable to find words. Reaching his hand inside his robe, Shunsui withdrew a length of delicate silver chain which was wrought to look as if it were comprised of flowers knotted together. In the center hung a glass pendant in which was encased a very familiar pink silk flower.

"Taicho, you _cut_ your haori?" she stammered.

"Only one small flower from the hem," he replied, turning her gently so he could fasten the necklace. "Now a part of you Shunsui is with you wherever you go." His fingers lingered on the soft skin of her neck. "I shall miss you, Nanao-chan."

He made to kiss her, but Nanao deflected it with the fan she had tucked in her obi. He _couldn't_ kiss her, not _here_ in front of the entire division. It was not because she was worried about propriety but because she was sure she would turn into a blubbering wreck and be unable to leave when the time came.

Nanao tucked the fan away as he chuckled sadly. She had to leave soon. She was expected at the Thirteenth by six o'clock, and Ise Nanao had never been late for anything in her entire life.

"It was…an honor to serve under you, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao whispered as a tear fell like a silent scream of agony down her cheek.

"No, my Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, brushing the tear away with his large thumb. "It was my honor to have you as my Fukutaichō."

Unable to contain herself any longer, Nanao threw her arms around his waist in a fierce embrace which he returned.

Nanao catalogued this moment, breathing in his scent, soaking up his warmth, the feel of his stubble against her forehead as he gently placed a kiss there. Then, in a move that surprised the _entire_ division, Nanao stood on her tiptoes and placed a lingering kiss on his cheek.

"I'll miss you too, Taichō," she murmured into his ear.

Pulling away from him, Nanao turned and tucked the small box under her arm before slinging the bag over her shoulder.

Nanao took her first steps toward the Eighth Division gate, away from her teammates, her friends, and the man she could no longer deny she loved.

The last thing she saw before the gate swung closed behind her was her Taichō, his arms wrapped around the shoulders of a dark-haired, bespectacled shinigami. For a mere moment, Nanao thought she saw herself and what could have been. Then she realized that she was looking at what _would_ happen. There would be many women through her Taichō's arms in her absence. Perhaps Okuni would be among them.

As her fingers closed around the pendant resting in the hollow of her throat, Nanao realized that she had never truly felt heartbreak until that moment.

* * *

A/N: Review or I'll force you to be Kenpachi's personal hairdresser. I wonder how he gets those spikes to stay in…not to mention the bells… 


	12. Nightmares

A/N: Hello again, beloved readers! I just returned from vacation on Sunday and through a combination of inspiration and the guilt I felt about letting you hang in wait for an entire week, here is the next chapter in my humble Shunsui and Nanao saga. Apologetically, this chapter is filled with more action than fluff. Hope you enjoy it anyway, I worked especially hard on this chapter and it just might show for once. Don't forget to review!

* * *

**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Twelve: Nightmares**

_**This chapter is dedicated to Kenta Divina, because great minds think alike. Sorry I kept you waiting…**_

Nanao adjusted her glasses on her nose, struggling to balance the heavily laden tray of food she was carrying on one arm. Carefully, she freed her other hand, rapping sharply in warning on the door to Ukitake Taichō's quarters.

Nanao sighed as she awaited a response. Her eyes landed on the vice captain's badge wound securely around her arm. Even after close to two weeks in the Thirteenth Division, it still jarred her to not see the Eighth's insignia emblazoned on it.

"Come in," Ukitake's voice floated through the wooden panel followed by a feeble, rasping cough.

Nanao slid the door open and entered the room quietly. She carefully made her way over to the pillow-strewn bed near the large window where her new Taichō lay, already dressed in his uniform. Nanao knelt beside the bed, placing the tray on the low table in front of her. She watched in concern as Ukitake took what seemed like ages to push himself into a sitting position. She cringed inwardly at the obvious display of male pride, reaching up and arranging the pillows behind him so he could remain propped up as he ate.

"Thank you, Ise-san," the white-haired taichō said gratefully, sagging back against the veritable mountain of cotton-encased feathers.

"You're welcome, Ukitake Taichō," Nanao replied softly, unloading the small bowl of fruit she had selected for breakfast off of the tray before resting the remainder of the food on the bed near the captain.

"Still so polite, Ise-san?" Ukitake joked, letting out a small laugh which quickly escalated into a full scale coughing fit.

As he removed the plain white handkerchief from his mouth, Nanao was relieved to see that it was devoid of blood. She handed him a glass of water and watched as he sipped it gingerly before handing back to her with a slightly shaking hand. He drew a long, rattling breath, his eyes regarding her carefully.

"That's a lovely scarf," he commented, as he noticed the length of indigo silk draped around her neck. "I don't believe I've ever seen you wear it before."

Nanao blushed. She had forgotten to take off Okuni's gift before she headed to the mess hall in order to fetch Ukitake's breakfast like she had every day for the past week.

Nanao had wrapped the scarf around her for comfort when she awoke in the small hours of the morning, drenched in a cold sweat after having _the_ nightmare again. It was the same exact one she'd had every night since her move to the Thirteenth…

_Nanao was bathed in luxurious sunlight as she lay on the picnic blanket in the sakura grove. Shunsui was reclined roguishly next to her, reading to her from his battered book of love poetry. He reached that ridiculous line about 'moving together' before observing her flushed face with a raised eyebrow. _

"_Yare,' he said teasingly, tossing the book behind him carelessly. "Why are we just sitting here when we should be listening to what the book is telling us to do?" Shunsui leaned over her, dusting one long, callused finger over her collarbone, causing her to shiver slightly. "Isn't that what books are for my Nanao-chan, to follow their instruction?"_

_Nanao could only nod before his lips were pressed against hers, his hands divesting her of her uniform at an agonizingly slow pace. _

Much_ later, when they lay with their limbs tangled and bodies sated, Shunsui glanced down at her with playfully dancing eyes._

"_Will you meet me here again tomorrow, Nanao-chan?" he asked, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. _

"_Hai, Taichō," she responded warmly as they reluctantly dressed and left to tend to the division. _

_The next day, with a small smile playing about her lips, Nanao returned to the grove only to find Shunsui slowly undressing a gorgeous stranger in the same fashion he had undressed her less than twenty-four hours prior. _

"_Taichō!" Nanao choked out. "I-I thought you loved me!" _

_He glanced up at her, brows knit in confusion. "Nanao? What are you doing here?" _

"_You…asked me…to meet you here yesterday…" _

"_Oh," he said bending down to place a kiss on the curve of the woman's neck, smiling as she mewled in pleasure at his action. "I forgot all about you…"Glancing up to see her still standing there he gave a small chuckle. _

"_Yare, Nanao. I thought that _you_ of all people would know that I need someone less plain…"_

Shuddering as the dream washed over her again, Nanao glanced up to meet Ukitake's scrutinizing gaze.

"Ise-san," he began, pausing to take a sip of the tea Nanao had brought him. "I am… concerned about you."

Nanao blinked, nonplussed. "_Concerned_, sir?"

"Again with the politeness," he laughed softly, stopping quickly when coughs threatened to overwhelm him once more. "In all seriousness, Ise-san, you do not appear to be happy. In fact," he said, placing the teacup gingerly down on the tray, "you seem quite distracted and incredibly _un_happy."

_Who _could_ be happy? _the voice in Nanao's head screamed. Her once perfectly organized life was one big, knotted _mess_.

She had acknowledged days ago that she was desperately in love with her former Taichō and, for the first time in her entire life, she had not one single idea as how to solve her problem.

Originally, she had thought it would be best to avoid the potential scandal it could create; the shadow a relationship would cast over their future careers. In truth, she doubted a relationship would hurt Shunsui's position much. As one of the oldest and most experienced, albeit _lazy_ captains, Nanao reasoned that if his liaisons had not affected him before, one more wouldn't hurt. The only one in jeopardy was herself.

While Nanao knew it would look much better if they were to have a relationship now that she was no longer his direct subordinate, she didn't like the idea that people would automatically assume that _things_ had happened while she was still the Eighth Division fukutaichō.

It _had_ occurred in blaring clarity to Nanao that the best possible scenario for any sort of romance between two members of the Gotei Thirteen would be between two captains. However, it appeared that the most likely way of her becoming a captain in the near future would be a result of Ukitake Taichō's death. It was a circumstance she prayed would not come to pass, both to prolong the life of a man she both respected and admired, as well as to spare Kyōraku Taichō the loss of his oldest, dearest friend.

She had had more than enough time to contemplate her plight during the tedious hours of paperwork she completed each day. Despite the fact that she should have been doing _twice_ the amount of usual paperwork, Nanao found herself doing _half_ of the amount she usually completed at the Eighth Division. She couldn't find a reason for the lack of work but this was not for lack of trying. Regardless, Nanao often found herself staring at the same sentence on a document for minutes at a clip, her heart aching for her old division, its lively members, and their pink-clad Taichō most of all.

When she wasn't doing paperwork, Nanao spent her time in a secluded clearing, training with her zanpakutō. She supposed if there was a _possibility_ that she could become a captain soon, she had better start working on achieving bankai.

When she wasn't engaged in her regular duties, Nanao utilized any means to keep herself busy, oftentimes doing menial chores like tidying Ukitake Taichō's room, bringing him food, or reading to him. _Anything_ to keep her from having to retreat to stifling atmosphere of her quarters, which reminded her strongly of a mausoleum, as the rooms had sat empty and completely untouched since the death of Shiba Kaien.

Kiyone-san had assisted Nanao in cleaning the place on the day of her arrival. Nanao had tried to personalize the space, but nothing seemed to work. Maybe the quarters only _seemed_ oppressive because Nanao could not feel as if she should be living in them. Had things worked out differently, perhaps Kiyone-san would be living there or more likely Kuchiki Rukia if she was not being sent so often to deal with matters in the living world.

"I am fine, Ukitake Taichō," Nanao responded belatedly to his question.

"If you're certain, Ise-san, I won't pry," Ukitake said gently. There was a slight pause as Ukitake observed that she had not touched what he considered a pitiful excuse for a breakfast.

"Shunsui is planning on stopping by later," he remarked with a sly smile. "Perhaps _he_ can convince you to actually eat something."

Nanao blanched. This wasn't the first time that Shunsui had dropped by the Thirteenth Division to look after his old friend and hopefully see Nanao at the same time. While Shunsui had been able to put in hours of (rather one-sided) drinking with his old friend, Nanao had been suspiciously absent during these times. Nanao knew it was childish to be avoiding her former Taichō and she also knew it had been stupid to hope that she would continue to get away with it. Nanao was praying her fixation with Kyōraku Taichō would fade quickly and restore her shattered dignity in its wake.

"Did he happen to mention what time he's coming?" Nanao asked in what she hoped was a casual manner, staring at her knees.

Ukitake sighed deeply, fixing Nanao with an exasperated, yet amused look. It was one she'd seen him give Kyōraku Taichō plenty of times in the past.

"He's scheduled to take a class up to the living world for supervised training today, so he didn't give a specific time."

Ukitake paused, coughing pathetically before continuing. "Even if he did know what time he was coming, I would not have told you. You cannot avoid him forever, Ise-san. He may not look it, but Kyōraku Shunsui can be a _very_ persistent man when he wants to be."

Nanao pushed the fruit she was supposed to be eating around the bowl, muttering something which sounded like, "Believe me_, I know…" _

- - -

Takahashi Okuni sang quietly as she slid the door to her room closed, smiling at the rather dirty lyrics that accompanied the upbeat drinking song she had learned last night at one of the division's impromptu parties. As she walked toward the center of the small community of buildings, she looped a brightly colored sash once over her shoulder and then again around her waist. The sash was adorned with an artfully done geisha holding a white mask. Okuni grinned at her unique but rather functional piece of apparel, tucking her distinctively shaped zanpakutō in the cross of fabric at her hip.

Adjusting her glasses, Okuni raised her hand and knocked rhythmically on the door to the Eighth Division office. She entered, glancing around curiously.

"Kyōraku Taichō?" she called hesitantly into the rather dim office, her eyes going wide in surprise as she saw the haori-clad Taicho not passed out on the sofa as she had expected, but seated as his usually abandoned desk. She watched dumbstruck as he scribbled his signature on a lengthy piece of parchment, adding it to the rather large stack of what Okuni assumed were completed papers.

"Kyōraku Taichō, are you actually doing _paperwork_ without Ise Fukutaichō breathing down your neck?" she asked lightly, trying to mask her concern at his unusual behavior. She had only been a member of the division for a relatively short time but it was long enough to know that her Taichō generally avoided paperwork at _all_ costs.

Shunsui set the pen down, a look of hurt flashing across his face at the mention of Nanao. Okuni regretted her words immediately.

She was aware that Nanao had been avoiding Kyōraku Taichō quite effectively. The brunette had learned this from Matsumoto who had recently pried the information out of Nanao after a visit to the Thirteenth Division. The strawberry-blonde had also managed to inveigle Shunsui to admit that he had told Nanao he _loved_ her only to be threatened with a harassment suit just a day before she left the Eighth.

_You had to hand it to Rangiku_, Okuni thought. _She could probably get Yamamoto to divulge his innermost secrets to her._ _Okay, maybe not_, she decided as the image of the rather fearful commander flitted across her mind.

Okuni was convinced that Nanao's horribly mixed signals (rejecting a man and then drinking herself silly with him later that night) would throw _anyone_ for a loop, but the Eighth Division Taichō seemed to be taking it rather hard. Or maybe it was just having to get through every day without even being able to _see_ Nanao was what was wearing on him most. Okuni wondered if the pair had even noticed that they had formed almost a symbiotic relationship over their many years together.

Shunsui glanced up at the petite form in front of him, slowly putting his pen down, affording Okuni a better view of the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. Now _that_ was even more troublesome.

"Okuni-san?" Shunsui asked, blinking in the shadowy office. "What time is it? And _what_ are you wearing?"

"It's almost two o'clock Taichō," she responded. "You're supposed to lead that class to the living world for training at two-thirty."

Shunsui stood, stretching. "Ah, yes. That's why I brought this down, I almost forgot." He picked up his own zanpakutō which had been leaning against the desk and strapped it around his waist. He smiled as he picked up his hat off the back of the chair and moved toward the door. Okuni noticed it didn't chase away the sadness in his eyes.

"You still didn't answer my question, Okuni-san," he said, tugging at the sash on her shoulder playfully. "What is this _lovely_ addition to your uniform?"

Okuni flushed slightly as they emerged into the sun, the light catching her handiwork on the sash, the beads casting glittering rainbows on the ground as they walked.

"It's the sheath for my zanpakutō, sir," she said. She had often been teased about the odd shape of zanpakutō. Her male friends at the academy had ribbed her mercilessly about its holder.

Shunsui eyed what appeared to be the large, ornate carved steel fan tucked at the cross section of the sash.

"I've only seen a zanpakutō like that once before," he smiled wistfully. "She was a dangerous woman." Okuni wondered if the weapon had belonged to a former friend or more likely a former lover. From the tone in his voice she was betting on the latter.

"And _what_ do you need your zanpakutō for, Okuni-san?"

The brunette blinked up at him. "I'm coming with you," she stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You might need help keeping the students in line. Besides, my zanpakutō could come in very handy in case some unexpected guests show up."

Shunsui chuckled deeply. "But your not even a seated officer, why would I take you into what could become a battle, even if it is highly unlikely? What's more, I couldn't bear to see your pretty face scarred."

Okuni let out an indignant snort. "Taichō, with all due respect, most of the seated officers in the division are idiots, except for maybe the fifth seat and possibly the seventh. I know I've only been in the squad a week but with Ise-Fukutaichō's departure, it didn't seem like the time to try to rise up in the ranks."

Shunsui folded his hands inside of his sleeves and regarded her carefully.

"Okuni-san," he began, but she cut him off.

"Taichō, it's _only_ a field exercise. You said yourself that it is unlikely we would even be needed. Anyway," she said, lowering her voice. "I _have_ to go, I made a promise."

Shunsui looked intrigued. "So, Nanao-chan entrusted my care to you, then?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as Okuni stared up at him with her eyes large and pleading behind her tortoise-shell frames. The girl reminded him Nanao so much it physically _hurt_ sometimes. At least now he knew the reason she had been in the office every single day, helping him complete various tasks and pulling sake bottles out of his fingers as he tried to drown her disturbing resemblance to his Nanao in alcohol. _Yet_, he thought, _they were different in so many_ _ways_. He took in her flashy apparel and couldn't help grinning. Nanao would be _dead_ before she was caught in anything so…_fun looking_.

"_Please_, Taichō?" the girl begged, sticking out her lower lip. Nanao would also _never _pout.

"Yare," he relented. "We couldn't allow you to disappoint Nanao-chan, now could we?"

"No, sir!" Okuni agreed, grinning as she fell into step to his right and just slightly behind him.

As they made their way toward the academy, Shunsui realized that it was _almost_ like having Nanao back again. He glanced at his companion and she adjusted her glasses with a soft smile.

But she _wasn't_ his Nanao-chan. No one could ever take her place as effortlessly, both by his side and in his heart.

"Is something wrong, Kyōraku Taichō?" Okuni inquired uncertainly. "You're staring at me."

Shunsui shook his head. "My apologies, Okuni-san. I was just thinking."

Her expressive eyes radiated understanding. "Nanao again?"

"Who else?" Shunsui replied with a rueful smile. Okuni leant her head on his shoulder and squeezed his hand in comfort.

- - -

When they finally entered the living world, it was pitch black out. Stars twinkled dully overhead as fluffy gray clouds drifted like mournful ghosts over the moon.

Okuni fished the communication device out of her pocket. It was usually the fukutaichō's job to remain in contact with the academy technician during training excursions but she would have to do for the time being.

No one had had any objections to her accompanying Kyōraku Taichō as he oversaw the exercise. While the members of the Eighth were underestimated by most of the Gotei Thirteen, it was no secret that the division's seated officers were lacking greatly in the qualities that usually accompanied their position.

The truth was it hadn't occurred to Shunsui to hold the small skirmishes which allowed division members to ascend the ranks in quite some time. Shunsui remembered idly that Nanao had asked him about it months ago, but it hadn't seemed that pressing at the time. Perhaps he would look into it in the near future.

Okuni hooked the device over her ear. "This is Takahashi Okuni of the Eighth Division reporting for Kyōraku Taichō. We have just entered the living world and there appears to be no sign of hollow activity."

"We have you on the monitor, Takahashi-san," the technician's voice crackled over the line. "It is expected that lesser hollows will be drawn to the area soon due to the rise in reiatsu. Let us know if you run into trouble."

Okuni grinned. "A little trouble wouldn't be unwelcome. Over and out." She heard the person on the other end of the line chuckle.

Okuni found that they were in what appeared to be a deserted park in a large city. She looked at the rather apprehensive faces of the academy students and remembered that it wasn't so long ago that she had gone out on _her_ first training run in the real world. From what she recalled it had been a piece of cake. She pushed her glasses up and moved to stand beside her Taichō off to the side of the manicured lawn, leaving the students to wait in tense silence for the first hollows to appear.

"Is something wrong, Taichō?" Okuni asked, noticing the frown on his face.

"I should have brought more officers," he mumbled more to himself than to her. "This class is scared out of their minds and either unable to or not bothering to control their reiatsus." Shunsui turned to face her. "Can you feel it?"

Okuni frowned as she noticed for the first time the massive spiking reiatsu issuing from the clump of students. The frown deepened as she realized they hadn't even assumed defensive stances or broken into smaller, more effective fighting groups but remained in one large cluster.

"Takahashi-san," the voice over her earphone startled her slightly. "You must get the students to control their reiatsus; we're detecting a large influx of hollow spiritual energy amassing in the area. If they continue like this it could become dangerous."

_Too late_, Okuni thought wryly as the hollows began to materialize around them at a rapid pace. She kept waiting for the students to _move_ but they just stood there. _What idiot stands around and waits for a hollow to attack_? she thought incredulously.

Shunsui drew his zanpakutō.

"Takahashi-san, you must get the students out immediately," the voice over the line commanded. "It's too much!"

"Got it," she barked into the microphone. "Kyōraku Taichō, surveillance says we have to get the students out of here, their reiatsu level is too high!"

"Yare," Shunsui commented as he watched one or two braver students cautiously approach the nearest hollows. "Who authorized this class for field training? They're scared shitless!"

Following his lead, Okuni drew her own zanpakutō, the large steel, bladed fan clicking open to reveal its shining face, which was elaborately etched and painted with what appeared to be various masks. Okuni deftly tossed the fan into the air, catching it. "Are you sure you can do this?" he asked, gazing at her in concern as more hollows appeared.

In answer, Okuni threw the fan at a nearby hollow, where it imbedded itself with deadly accuracy in the creature's skull. The hollow disintegrated immediately and Okuni darted forward, snatching the fan before it hit the ground.

"Yeah, old man," she teased. "The question is, can you keep up?"

Shunsui arched an eyebrow at the rather out of character comment but didn't have much time to ponder it further on it as the girl raced toward the hollows. She vaulted off the ground, another hollow falling to ash in her wake.

Figuring that she could take care of herself as long their foes remained lesser hollows, Shunsui took off in the other direction, hoping to clear a path for the frightened students. He was relieved to see that the wide-eyed kids had at least begun to fight the hollows directly surrounding them. He blocked the downward swing of a more aggressive creature's claw with one blade before driving its twin one clear through the white mask.

_Maybe Okuni's right,_ Shunsui thought as he dispatched another hollow. _I am getting too old for this._ But in truth, he knew it felt strange because it had been over a century since he had fought a battle without his defiant Nanao covering his back with her furious kidō.

- - -

_There is absolutely no way we're getting out of this alive_, Okuni thought miserably, the cheeky grin long vanished from her face.

She quickly switched her fan to her left hand, wiping away the slippery stream of blood that continued to run from the long, agonizingly painful gash down her right forearm. She took a step backwards, away from the encroaching white masks, hoping her presence would lend some comfort to the small huddle of students behind her. They were all bruised and bleeding in some manner. Okuni was exhausted beyond what she had previously thought to be the limits of endurance.

She _had_ to keep fighting. Kyōraku Taichō needed her. The students needed her.

"Call them again," Shunsui commanded, wiping sweat off his brow and twirling hisKaten Kyōkotsu in order to gain a better grip.

Okuni fingered the earpiece. "This is Eighth Division requesting officer assistance!" She waited for something other than crackling static but was sorely disappointed. "Damnit, they're still not answering! What do we do?" She flicked her gaze over to her thankfully still unharmed Taichō.

Shunsui grimaced. "We keep fighting."

He allowed himself one small smile as Okuni swore badly enough to make even the rowdiest officer of the Eleventh Division blush

Shunsui turned toward the small clump of students still able to wield a weapon. "All of you," he ordered. "It's your responsibility to protect those too injured to fight. Fan out around them in a defensive position and kill any hollow that gets too close. Work together. And _no matter what_ happens you get yourselves and your classmates _out_."

Okuni was about to ask him exactly what _he_ was planning on doing but never got the chance as more loud cracks filled the air, indicating the appearance of even more foes. Shunsui darted forward too fast for the eye to follow and dug his blade deep into the skull of the closest hollow.

Okuni noticed that the students hadn't moved. "Your superior officer just gave you a command!" she barked.

Any other time she would have laughed as they scurried off but she was already too busy lobbing her zanpakutō at a nearby assailant. She smiled grimly in satisfaction as the hollow fragmented as the blade of her fan swept across it, twirling speedily back at her. Catching her fan gracefully in her left hand before vaulting off of the ground, she scraped the weapon through the cranium of a hollow that had just appeared.

_We have to get out of here now or we're hollow bait!! _Okuni thought, as the fight dragged on, the hollows continuing to be magnetically drawn to the students' now out of control reaitsus.

She neared a rather haggard looking Shunsui. This battle would have been difficult even if he _had_ been following his usual routine of sleeping two hours for every one that he was awake. Startled, Okuni realized that from the expression on Shunsui's face, it seemed he was thinking along the same lines. _He looks as if he's about ready to give up…_

In desperation, Okuni did something she had never done before. She tried to activate the initial release of her zanpakutō.

Warmth flared to her numb fingertips but nothing else happened. Okuni let out primal scream of frustration and despair.

"Takahashi-san!" the voice crackled over the line.

_YES! _

"Are you alright? The reiatsu level in your sector shorted our communications link. We are opening a gate near the area where we have the students located on the monitor. You and Kyōraku Taichō get out of there. We're sending in a team to finish off the remaining hollows."

"_Finally_," Okuni snarled, lashing out with her fan's razor edge at a nearby enemy. "Taichō, they're opening a gate! Back-up is on its way, let's get out of here!"

Shunsui dodged a hollow's blow, decapitating it with two swipes of his zanpakutō. "I'll stay and help the clean-up crew."

"Taichō―" She began to move toward him but was force to pause and deflect an attack. She screamed in pain as she was forced to use her right arm to finish the creature off.

"Okuni-san get to the Fourth Division before that arm is useless!" Shunui hollered.

Okuni turned, about to head for the gate only to shriek in fear for her Taichō's life.

A hollow had appeared behind Shunsui as he was yelling at her― she was too far away to do anything.

Shunsui spun quickly on his heel and severed the hollow's arm before thrusting both blades into its skull.

Distracted, she had not seen the four vicious hollows which had been slowly surrounding her until it was too late.

"Okuni!" she heard Shunsui shout hoarsely. She whirled around just in time to dodge the first blow.

Okuni jumped the second strike which came from behind her and she flung her zanpakutō at the responsible hollow's grinning mask.

But her injured arm had had enough and her throw was too wide. This time the fan didn't come swishing back into her grasp. Instead it embedded itself in the earth ten feet away.

Panicking, Okuni threw a hand out trying to remember what Nanao had told her once about casting kidō without having to invoke the entire incantation.

"Shot of red flame!"

The hollow was blasted back a good four feet before it became nothing more than ash on the wind.

Okuni dived through the opening the circle for her zanpakutō waiting to feel claws rake down her spine. She rolled onto her side just in time to feel something warm and wet land on her. Glancing at her bare arm she was horrified to realize that it was _blood_.

She blinked, momentarily stunned. It wasn't _her_ blood.

Shunsui was standing above her, his zanpakutō crossed in front of him. He was bleeding profusely from a large gash near his forehead, his hat knocked onto the scarlet stained grass. Okuni noticed immediately that there were only two hollows now.

"What are you doing?" Shunsui yelled over the din of the battle. "Why can't you ever stay where you're safe? Get out of here!" Confused, Okuni bolted to her feet, deflecting a claw with her fan and leveling another kido blast at one of the two hollows left. She felt incredibly stupid for forgetting all of the extensive kidō training she had endured in the academy for the entire duration of the battle.

"Taichō, are you okay?" she yelled as he delivered the finishing blow to the last hollow, blood dripping down his face from the wound in his forehead. Suddenly, the noise level on the field increased substantially. Frantically Okuni swiveled around.

Relief poured through her as she spotted Matsumoto's distinctive hair fanning out behind her, the blonde lunging into battle after her diminutive Taichō. Across the field she spotted other shadowy figures, as the ash-like remains of the hollows danced past her on the wind. The back-up had arrived.

Okuni turned to face her own Taichō.

"Kyōraku Taichō you _need_ to get to the Fourth Division," she said. "They can take it from here." Shunsui stumbled.

"Nanao-chan," he murmured, falling to his knees. Okuni fell quickly to her own, catching him as he fell face first toward the earth.

"Taichō," she cried, alarmed, turning him over one handed. She found that it was excruciatingly painful to try and unclench her right hand from her zanpakutō, so she quit trying. Okuni rested his head in her lap, realizing that there was a large bump accompanying the bleeding gash. The wound was much, _much _worse than it had originally appeared.

Shunsui's eyes fluttered sleepily. Okuni, knowing that he had at the very _least_ sustained a bad concussion feared what would happen if he passed out. "Taichō, stay awake. You've got to stay with me," she pleaded.

"You're safe Nanao-chan," he muttered, reaching up one hand to stroke her cheek as tears of exhaustion and worry fell behind her horn-rimmed glasses.

"Taichō, _don't_ close your eyes," Okuni repeated. "You've got to wait until the Fourth gets here, you need help."

He fingers fell to near her neck as if he was reaching for something. "_I love…my Nanao-chan_…" he whispered.

"I-I know you do, sir," Okuni said, grabbing the hand by her neck and squeezing it. "But you've got to be alive to see her when you get back," she cried, nearly hysterical.

Shunsui reached toward her free hand with his shaking one. Gritting her teeth against the pain, Okuni dropped her zanpakutō and fit her hand into his. Shunsui placed a soft kiss on her bloodied knuckles as she gazed helplessly down at him.

"Taichō―" she whispered. His brow knitted in either confusion or pain, she couldn't tell which before his eyes fell shut.

They didn't open again.

Panicking, Okuni shook him gently. "Kyōraku Taichō!"

Shunsui did not respond.

"Kyōraku Taichō!" _No, not now, please, he can't be…_

"**HELP**!" the frantic screamed ripped from her lips. "**Kyōraku Taichō's down! Kyōraku Taichō's down!" **

- - -

Midway through the surveillance room of the Shinigami Academy, Ise Nanao froze. She stared at the computer monitor in shocked horror as Okuni's voice repeated the words over and over again. She was growing more frantic by the second, despite the reassurances of the technician that the Fourth Division was on the way.

"_HELP ME PLEASE! Kyōraku Taichō is down…help…Kyōraku Taichō…please…"_

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A/N: And thus ends another chapter…Review or I will duck tape you to the toilet like Rukia did to Kon before running away…the back of the toilet, where no one EVER cleans because usually brooms can't fit… 


	13. Unlucky

A/N: Over two-hundred reviews! You know what that means? It's time for a sake party! (Pops the cork on a bottle and downs a good portion while doing a happy dance). As of right now, it looks as if there's only one more chapter and a short epilogue to go before it's time to declare 'That's a wrap!' on this story forever. Anyway, I hope you enjoy our few, short chapters together before it all comes to an end…and don't forget to review!

* * *

**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky **

Nanao was returning a book that Ukitake Taichō had borrowed from the extensive library at the Shinigami Academy. It was a menial task that could have been performed by any member of the Thirteenth Division. However, Nanao had a personal reason for volunteering for the errand. If she was lucky, Kyōraku Taichō would stop by when she was out and she could effectively avoid what was guaranteed to be an incredibly awkward meeting.

With this in mind she had taken the longest way possible to the academy. It wasn't until she'd glimpsed the position of the sun outside one of the school's windows that Nanao realized how late it was getting. She knew Ukitake was concerned about her and she didn't want to worry him further by doing something so out of character as taking an inordinate amount of time to complete a simple task.

It was for this reason that Nanao decided to take a shortcut through the school's surveillance room, which was used to monitor training activities in the living world.

There was only one technician in the room when Nanao entered and he was frantically pressing buttons as he tried to reassure what sounded like a panicking student on the other line.

It took a few moments for the words she was hearing to register but when they finally did, Nanao froze.

"_HELP ME PLEASE! Kyōraku Taichō is down…help…Kyōraku Taichō…please…" _a voice Nanao now recognized as Okuni's sobbed hysterically.

The words pounded across Nanao's shocked brain. _It was only supposed to be a simple training mission…_

"Please, Takahashi-san," the technician was pleading loudly. "Fourth Division was just sent through the gate, Kyōraku Taichō will be alright."

There was a flurry of sound which could be heard before Okuni's hoarse voice came over the line once more. "_Hurry, please…Oh gods…please…help him…"_ There was a crackle of static and Okuni's cries faded away.

The technician was now conversing quickly with the Fourth Division officer who had apparently taken the girl's communication device, but Nanao barely paid attention to what was being said. There was only one thing running through her head.

She had to get down to the Fourth Division and she had to do it _now_.

- - -

Nanao used shunpo to transport herself to the Fourth Division as swiftly as possible. Once she got there however, she found she couldn't make herself walk into the building.

She _needed_ to know what had happened to him but… it was safer out here, without knowing for sure if…if he had _died_.

Nanao stood transfixed outside of the infirmary's double doors, as the day slowly evaporated into darkness. After the better part of a half an hour, she forced her feet to move.

When Nanao burst into the first wing of the Fourth Division's infirmary, she was shocked and horrified to see that it was almost full. Students, bruised and battered, in many cases bleeding, were sitting or lying down on the small, white beds. Members of the healing squad bustled around, leaving the air tingling with the remnants of healing reiatsu and the smell of antiseptic.

"Gods! What the _hell_ are you doing?" a shrill cry echoed across the large room.

"Okuni?"

The younger woman snapped her head up. Nanao almost didn't recognize her. Her hair had fallen out of the neat up-do she usually wore it in, tumbling down past her shoulders in wild waves. Her glasses were lying, flecked with blood and dirt on the bed next to her, along with a blood-stained sash and a large similarly stained steel fan which Nanao assumed was the girl's zanpakutō.

"Ise Fukutaichō!" Okuni wrenched her arm out of the grip of the Fourth Division's seventh seat, Yamada Hanatarō and bounded over to where Nanao was standing, throwing her good arm around her friend.

"Where's Kyōraku Taichō?" Nanao asked urgently.

"I don't know. Somewhere in the back I think," Okuni replied, pulling back slightly to look at Nanao's pale face. "They said that he would be fine. I wanted to go with him but Unohana Taichō made me come out to get this healed."

Nanao glanced down, noticing for the first time the fact that the shorter girl was injured. She stared thunderstruck, at Okuni's right arm. It was slashed from just above her wrist to her elbow and half-clotted with blood. New fluid was still oozing out of the top portion of the wound.

"How did you get here so fast?" Nanao wrenched her gaze away from the gash.

"I was passing through the surveillance room and I heard you…" Nanao responded, her grip tightening on the girl's shoulders. "What happened?" Nanao asked, a hint of desperation evident in her voice.

"Oh, Nanao, it was _horrible_," Okuni moaned, burying her head in Nanao's shoulder.

"Please," interrupted a pleading voice. Hanatarō had approached them cautiously, looking as if he was afraid that Nanao was going to treat him to a shot of her infamous kidō for intruding. "Please, Ise Fukutaichō, Takahashi-san's wound needs to be healed or she could risk permanent damage to her arm."

Letting out a mental scream of frustration at having the information she desperately needed to hear withheld, Nanao released her friend. She was a fukutaichō first, and it was her responsibility to look after her squad members.

She was too distracted to remember that technically, Okuni no longer belonged to her division.

"Of course," Nanao replied shortly.

"You may stay if you'd like to, Ise Fukutaichō," Hanataro said kindly, gently guiding Okuni toward the bed she had previously been occupying.

"Thank you, Yamada-san," Nanao said. She wondered if she looked as frazzled as she felt due to the warm pity present in the healer's gaze. "Actually," she said, adjusting her glasses. "I was wondering what room Kyōraku Taichō is in."

"The second one on the left in the next wing," Hanatarō replied, apologetically resuming the process of cleaning Okuni's wound.

"How is he?" Nanao asked, her gaze on the polished floorboards.

"His vitals are stable, which is very good. From what Takahashi-san has said, it seems he took a bad knock to the head. He probably has a concussion but the degree of it is uncertain. I wouldn't worry though," he said, giving a small, comforting smile to Nanao. "Unohana Taichō is tending to him personally."

Nanao drew in a deep breath. At least it didn't appear that his life was in danger. She desperately wanted to go and see him, but she was sure that she would only delay Unohana's work by being underfoot. Nanao sank into a chair next to the bed as Okuni hissed once more in pain.

"How did you fight with your arm like this?" Hanatarō asked, looking up with admiration at the girl sitting in front of him.

"I don't know," she replied, glancing at him. Their eyes met and both of their faces reddened as they saw how close they were.

Quickly removing his gaze, Hanatarō reached down next to the bed and brought up a long thin item. Nanao realized that it must be his zanpakutō.

Her suspicions were confirmed when he drew a deadly-looking rapier from the sheath. "I found it this morning," he said, smiling. "Good thing too because it was very useful earlier." He took a step closer to Okuni clutching the hilt.

"What _are_ you doing?" Okuni demanded, eyeing the blade warily. She would have sounded more threatening if she hadn't looked as if she was about to fall over with exhaustion. "I've already been sliced open enough for today."

"Please, Takahashi-san my Hisagomaru heals any wound it touches," the healer supplied rapidly, seeing Okuni's left hand start inching towards her own bloodied zanpakutō.

"Oh," Okuni said, smiling sheepishly.

He returned the gesture before dropping his gaze to the blade, eying the hilt critically. Nanao had heard of his zanpakutō's abilities before and assumed he was somehow seeing if the dual-purpose weapon was still able to perform the healing without initiating its attack state.

Seemingly satisfied, Hanatarō lifted Okuni's injured arm in a gentle but firm grip.

"This might sting a little," he warned, before carefully laying the flat of the blade on the gash. Okuni bit her lip.

The air crackled with reaitsu and Nanao watched in amazement as Okuni's wound fairly vanished before her eyes, leaving a long, thin, and slightly puffy scab where the skin had been torn ruthlessly apart.

Withdrawing his zanpakutō, Hanatarō gazed down at his work.

"It might be a little stiff for a few days," he said, rotating her arm and watching her face closely for any sign of pain. "I'd like to give you some pain medication, as your muscles will probably start to cramp from overuse and make it difficult to sleep. You should stay here for the night, just to make sure your wound doesn't reopen."

He fetched a robe similar to the one Nanao had worn during her own stay in the infirmary and stammering, left Nanao to help Okuni change out of her uniform.

When Hanatarō returned a few minutes later, Nanao had Okuni already resting under the blanket.

"Are you alright, Nanao?" the brunette asked, watching her former fukutaichō as she swallowed the medication the healer had brought her. She handed the glass of water back to Hanatarō and sank back against the pillows.

"I'm fine," Nanao responded. "But I think I'll stay here tonight." Okuni nodded understandingly.

"I've been assigned to watch the ward tonight," Hanatarō informed them, as he picked up Okuni's blood-soaked uniform and sash. "I'm going to go run these to the laundry and then I'll be back. If you need anything at all during the night, let me know."

Nanao nodded. "Thank you, Yamada-san." He gave a short bow to Nanao and turned to leave.

"Wait! Yamada-san," Okuni said suddenly. "Will you tell them to be careful with my sash?" she asked, eying the length of fabric which appeared bloodstained beyond any hope of being salvaged.

He nodded, realizing how important the sash must be to her.

"Thank you," Okuni said softly. "For everything." Blushing, the healer walked up the ward and out of sight.

Nanao settled more comfortably in the chair, knowing it was bound to be a long night. Okuni was already halfway asleep, her hair spread all around her. Nanao sighed, resigned to having to wait to find out exactly what had happened.

- - -

Nanao sat staring blankly at the flickering shadows cast by the nearby lamp on the blank canvas of the white sheet. She was unable to sleep as the fact that the man she loved could have _died_ earlier skipped continuously across her conscience.

_Died thinking he was in _your_ arms,_ Nanao thought. Died_ because you weren't there to help him…_

Nanao now knew _everything_ and was thoroughly wishing she didn't.

Okuni had woken up a few hours before; crying out as the pain medication wore off, leaving her to the burning sensation of her cramped muscles. Alarmed by her shouts, Nanao had fetched Hanatarō, who administered more painkillers. It was unfortunate that pills took about a half an hour to take full effect.

In an attempt both to fulfill her curiosity and to take her young friend's mind off of her soreness, Nanao asked Okuni to tell her what happened.

For the next half an hour Okuni spoke into the silence of the ward, keeping her voice low to avoid waking the others who were resting peacefully. She told of the student's inability to control their reiatsus, the battle that ensued, and the horrible moment when Shunsui had been injured and … mistook Okuni for Nanao.

Fingering the pendant at her throat, Nanao frowned. It bothered her that Hanatarō had claimed that Shunsui probably had a concussion. _Do concussions usually cause people to see things? _

Lost in her thoughts, Nanao jumped when she heard the rustle of fabric right beside her. Expecting to see the young healer checking in, she was surprised to see Ukitake Taichō sink slowly into the chair next to her.

"Ukitake Taichō," Nanao exclaimed. "You shouldn't be up!"

He chuckled weakly. "It's alright, Ise-san. I felt slightly better today."

Nanao looked over at him. He _did_ look better. In fact, he looked as if he could be in perfect health; well, as healthy as she had ever seen him. _Then again_, she thought as he coughed feebly into the handkerchief clasped in his hand, _it could just be the lighting_.

"_Sir_―" she began.

"Could you have remained in bed when you heard your best friend was seriously injured?" he interrupted her.

"No, I suppose not," Nanao murmured quietly after a few moments. "How is Kyōraku Taichō?"

Ukitake sighed. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. He's hasn't regained consciousness yet, but Retsu-san doesn't appear to be too worried. I trust her judgment."

Nanao wondered if he realized he'd just called Unohana Taichō something as informal as _Retsu-san_ and more importantly, if the two were close enough that she allowed it.

"You should return to your quarters Ise-san," Ukitake said gently. "You don't look well." He took a deep breath and let out another small cough.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep, anyway," Nanao replied softly. "I can't… Just thinking about the fact that he almost…_died_…"

Ukitake covered her slender hand which was resting on the armrest of the chair and gave it a gentle squeeze. Nanao noticed after several minutes that he still hadn't released it.

Nanao, desperately in need of some comfort, made no move remove her hand from his warm grasp.

- - -

Nanao sighed as she completed another piece of paperwork. She rubbed her tired eyes and stretched her cramping fingers out in front of her, wincing as the knuckles cracked. Throwing the pen down, Nanao rose to her feet, gripping the desk as the room swayed slightly.

She hadn't eaten anything since the previous afternoon and it was approaching early evening. She also supposed her lightheadedness was not helped by the fact that she hadn't slept at all the night before. She had finally gone to Kyōraku Taichō's room in the Fourth Division, unable to go for any longer without seeing him.

He had regained consciousness three days ago, but Nanao couldn't find the courage to visit him when he was awake.

She had no idea what she should say to him or, what he would say to her.

So, she had sat and watched him sleep. The steady rise and fall of his chest was a familiar sight, one she had secretly enjoyed during her days in the Eighth Division, when he used to nap on the office couch as she completed the paperwork.

Okuni, who had been released the day after the battle, reportedly went to see him every day. Ukitake, who claimed to be feeling much better, also spent much of his time at the Fourth Division, returning each evening to eat dinner with his new Fukutaichō. In between coughs, which Nanao was grateful had subsided a good deal, he tried to convince her to visit Shunsui, as he kept asking about 'his lovely Nanao-chan.'

Matsumoto stopped by at the end of the second day, to tell Nanao of her own interesting meeting with her favorite drinking partner. She said that Shunsui had been adamant that he had seen Nanao at the battle. Apparently, Matsumoto had spent the better part of an hour trying to convince him that Nanao had been safely cooped up inside the Thirteen Division at the time. The busty Fukutaichō believed that Shunsui had still looked rather unconvinced at the end of their argument which had been put to rest by a very pensive Ukitake Taichō who had excused himself a few minutes later.

Nanao wondered when she'd become such a coward. It was _only_ Kyōraku Taichō. The same man she'd worked for over a hundred years, the first man _ever_ to give her a flower. It was the same man who had pushed her up against a wall and kissed her senseless, whose reiatsu had ignited such a longing within her. The same man who had told her he loved her, and she rejected him…

Nanao slammed a hand down on the desk in frustration as tears welled in her eyes, his voice echoing across her brain.

_What do you want Nanao?_

_What a work of art you are, Nanao Ise…_

_You're young and I'm in love…_

_Why is it so hard to accept that I'm in love with you?_

_We are inevitable…_

She let out a strangled sob, as her poorly-restrained reiatsu flared around her.

_Why is it so hard to accept that I'm in love with you?_

The papers on the desk where whisked off her desk in a whirlwind of energy as her restraint snapped. She sank to floor on all fours, fighting for control. The lamp was knocked off of the desk, the glass cover splintering on the floor, the flame sputtering and dying in her spiritual storm.

She was too exhausted to fight. She felt dizzy, she was drowning as her power took over her, unchecked…

"_Ise-san!"_

Suddenly, she saw a flash of white and she was being lifted. She felt another reiatsu push against hers firmly, trying to drive her energy back to a safe level.

Finally, after what seemed like lifetimes, Nanao was able to withdraw her power back into herself.

Gasping for breath, she opened her eyes to find herself clasped in Ukitake's arms. He carried her through the door at the far end of the office which led to his adjoining quarters. He lowered himself onto the large bed, still cradling Nanao in his arms.

"Ise-san…"

"I'm sorry," Nanao breathed, fighting to calm herself. "I haven't lost control _that_ badly since I was a small child."

Ukitake frowned. "I didn't know you had problems controlling your reiatsu. Shunsui never mentioned it."

"That's because he's never seen it." Nanao began struggling to remove herself from Ukitake's clutches. She stopped moving as the room took a nasty turn, causing her head to pound.

"I used to cause small tornados when I was very young. Whenever I was exhausted or incredibly upset, my reiatsu would respond to my strong flares of emotion, as reiatsus usually do, but I couldn't control mine. I eventually learned to contain it. When I first entered the academy, they told me that it was a typical trademark of the kidō adept."

"Is that why you wear glasses?" Ukitake asked, gazing down at Nanao.

"Partly," she replied. "I do need them for reading. But, yes, when I was still learning how to control myself, they prevented me from releasing a concentrated reiatsu from my eyes."

"Ah, so _that's_ why everyone is so afraid of you removing them," Ukitake grinned slightly. "Ise-san," he asked, smile fading. "What was it that upset you so much you lost control?"

"It was nothing, I'm just tired," she said quickly.

"I don't think it was nothing, Ise-san―" he protested, but Nanao was ignoring him, attempting to sit up again. It proved to be a difficult task as Ukitake was still holding her against him, afraid she was either about to pass out, which looked probable, or lose control again.

Nanao had just struggled into a sitting position, her hands fisted in his captain's haori for support; his arms preventing her from toppling off her precarious position on his lap, when the door to Ukitake's quarters slid open.

"Nanao, Kyōraku Taichō asked me to deliver this to you―" Okuni, her arms full of flowers, stopped dead on the threshold. Her eyes widened as they fell upon Nanao and Ukitake in an apparent embrace on the bed.

"_Nanao, how could you_?" the brunette said, an expression of disbelief and disgust on her face.

Nanao clambered off of Ukitake's lap. "Okuni, wait!" she cried. "It's not what you think―"

But it was too late; the petite girl had already bolted, leaving the bouquet of flowers, half-trampled in her wake.

Both Nanao and Ukitake watched in a haze of shock as the petite silhouette rapidly faded into the distance, heading straight for the Fourth Division.

On the floor next to the smashed petals, a small white card lay. Nanao stumbled over to pick it up, letting out a hollow, laugh. In the fading light of the day, the words shone mockingly up at her, a perfect overture to the great misunderstanding bound to follow.

_I am sorely missing my Nanao-chan― Your ever-faithful, Shunsui_.

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A/N: Another chapter finished…I feel such a sense of accomplishment. Review! Or I will have Hanatarō attack you with Hisagomaru …when the gauge is full! 


	14. Love According to Shunsui

A/N: I finished writing the last chapter today, and it ended up being rather lengthy, so I ended up splitting it into two parts. There is one more chapter after this and then a short epilogue. Please buckle your seat belts until the story comes to a complete stop…and don't forget to review!

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**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Fourteen: Love According to Shunsui**

_**This chapter is dedicated to stormtrooper1. Your subtext reading is just fine…**_

_Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven…_

Nanao ran the brush through her slightly damp and gleaming hair, seeking refuge from the chaotic events that had unfolded hours earlier in the simple and repetitive task.

_Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty…_

If it had been up to Nanao, she would have followed Okuni immediately and tried to sort out the situation before it was blown out of proportion. In fact, she had just about shunpo-ed out the door when Ukitake grabbed her, holding her steady as she swayed, still slightly unsteady on her feet.

"_Ise-san," the white-haired taichō said sternly, his grip on her arm causing her to flinch. "You are in _no_ condition to go after her right now, let alone be in what is _bound_ to be a highly emotional setting." His grasp on her arm gentled and he gave her a meaningful look, no doubt thinking about her loss of control minutes earlier. _

"_But, what are we going to do?" she asked, fighting to remain standing as the room lurched erratically beneath her feet. _

"_You will do nothing until you've eaten and slept. When I am sure that you are going to be alright I will find Takahashi-san and explain what happened."_

_Nanao stared up at him. "What about Kyōraku Taichō? I'm sure she has told him by now." _

_Ukitake placed a hand on her lower back and guided her toward the small table she usually occupied at breakfast. "I think it would be best if _you_ explained the misunderstanding to Shunsui," he said delicately. _

_Following the gentle push of his hand on her shoulder, Nanao sank down onto the cushion. "Surely he would prefer to hear the truth from you, sir?"_

_Ukitake shook his head, a sad smile playing about his lips as he sat on the bed. "Somehow I doubt that, Ise-san."_

_Confused, Nanao rubbed her temples trying to fight off the pounding headache that was swiftly attacking her. "Why?"_

"_Because, Ise-san," he said gently. "_I_ will have been the best friend who supposedly betrayed him but _you_…" his voice softened as he tucked one long, elegant finger under her chin and brought her eyes up to meet his gaze. "__**You**__ will be the woman who finally, _truly_ broke Kyōraku Shunsui's heart." _

Ukitake had watched Nanao consume the entire contents of a rather large tray of food which had been fetched by Kiyone. The third seat had looked thoroughly relieved to discover that the Taichō she was so devoted to still had some need of her.

After eating, Nanao had retreated to her quarters. Her body was so exhausted that she fell asleep almost immediately, despite the depressing atmosphere of the room.

She awoke sometime later. Unable to sleep any longer, Nanao had bathed while her barely reenergized brain wondered if Ukitake had caught up with Okuni yet.

Nanao let out a long breath of defeat and set the brush down on the bedside table. She traced her fingers over the chain at her throat before holding the glass pendant up for inspection.

The bright pink flower was just the perfect shade to match the simple yukata she was wearing; one that Matsumoto had forced her to buy many shopping trips ago. She had fallen in love with the garment because it reminded her so much of her Taichō. Even though she (like most other members of the Gotei Thirteen) often wore non-uniform clothing when attending unofficial events or during after office hours, Nanao had never worn this particular article. It had been the object of too many precious fantasies. One of the more innocent ones consisted of Nanao merely lying with Shunsui in his favorite spot on the roof of the Eighth Division Office while gazing at the stars. In the dream their pink garments blended so well, it was impossible to tell where Nanao ended and Shunsui began.

But that dream which was once so attainable seemed so distant now.

She had made it that way.

Though Nanao knew that no betrayal had occurred that afternoon, guilt still gnawed at her insides like a relentless beast. She had hurt her Taichō _again_.

And…she had hurt _herself_ desperately in the process.

Hardly aware of what she was doing, Nanao slipped her small feet into a pair of slippers, slid the door open, and set off into the night.

- - -

Nanao slipped easily into the Fourth Division's infirmary.

Masking her reiastu, she padded silently past the unseated squad member who was assigned to watch the hushed ward and subsequently fallen fast asleep at his station. She made her way down the rows of beds (now mostly unoccupied) and into the back wing, which consisted of private rooms. She paused at the second door on the left, and pressed her ear against it. Shunsui's gentle snores greeted her.

Relieved, Nanao slid open the door and entered the room. She walked slowly over to sit in the high-backed chair by his bedside. Nanao could not help but notice that his face, which usually looked so peaceful and carefree in sleep, appeared troubled. A large crease was visible in between his eyes.

Guilt, pain, and love swirled together in an anguished mix, so strong that Nanao could no longer suppress the emotions. She reached her pale, trembling hands to grasp the large, tan one resting by his side. With a tremulous sigh, Nanao sunk forward until her forehead was resting on Shunsui's stomach, which rose and fell comfortingly beneath her.

"_I am so sorry,"_ she whispered, squeezing her eyes closed against the fresh wave of emotion.

"Sorry for what, Nanao-chan?"

Nanao snapped her head up to stare at Shunsui. Half-sure she had imagined his response; she was surprised to see that he was staring back at her.

"What are you sorry for Nanao-chan?" he repeated, pushing himself into a sitting position and regarding her with eyes that glinted in the darkness.

"I-I should go," she stammered, starting to rise from the chair. "I woke you up."

She turned to leave only to discover that she hadn't let go of his hand, a fact which he was now using against her.

"I really wasn't sleeping," he replied, tugging her down to sit on the bed next to him. There was so little space available that Nanao felt she was fairly sitting on top of him.

Uncomfortable with his closeness after having gone so long without seeing him, Nanao made to resume her perch in the chair but she was prevented as Shunsui grasped her other arm in his free hand.

"Stay right where you are," he commanded in the tone that Nanao both feared and adored because she was rendered almost powerless by it.

Shunsui moved farther down the bed, so that their hips, which were facing opposite directions, pressed against each other. He ran a hand down her arm, the action causing her eyes to dart up to his.

"What are you doing here, Nanao?" he asked, his eyes searching hers in the darkness.

"I came to apologize…" she said quietly. "And," she continued, "to tell you that…that what Okuni told you this afternoon…was a…a misunderstanding."

"Why should it matter?" Shunsui asked her, his gaze penetrating and serious.

"What do you mean?" she said, perplexed. "It matters because Ukitake Taichō is your best friend and he knows how you…how you feel about me. You would think he betrayed you." Nanao swallowed, her eyes falling on their still intertwined hands. "And…because if anything _had_ happened…I would have known at the time…that you…_loved_ me."

"And why would _that_ have mattered? You quite clearly told me that you wanted no part of me. There was nothing to stop you from acting on any feelings you had developed. Jushirō perhaps had a reason, but not you."

Nanao stared at him dumfounded. "But― we didn't do anything! I lost control of my reiatsu and Ukitake Taichō was helping me. Nothing happened that wasn't completely innocent. _That_ is what seems to matter the most to me right now."

"The question is not if you did anything Nanao," Shunsui responded, his grip tightening slightly on her. "The question is _why_ you didn't do anything?"

Anger was starting to bubble behind the initial shock. Here she was, putting her pride aside, almost _begging_ for his forgiveness and he was speaking in riddles.

She pushed back slightly out of his embrace, the fire that seemed to die within her weeks ago suddenly rekindled in his presence. "I _never_ would have done anything because I hate the idea of hurting you!" she ground out, managing to get one hand free and placing against his chest as his close proximity suddenly seemed oppressive.

"But you've hurt me already, Nanao," Shunsui said quietly, trying to maintain eye contact as she turned her head away from him, ashamed.

"I know," she returned just as softly, the anger draining out of her voice like water through a sieve. "I know that I've…hurt you. And I hate myself for it."

She swallowed, trying to alleviate the catch in her throat. "You think I haven't noticed the pain you try so hard to hide behind your silly smiles and ridiculous flirtations? You've probably seen so much in your lifetime that no one should ever have to endure. Most of the time…you forget about it and go about your business but the times you can't…those days are the worst. Those are the days when I wanted so badly to just to give in, to go drink your stupid sake on the roof with you if it would make you smile …because it meant you didn't feel the pain as acutely anymore."

She laughed scathingly. "I was _so_ successful at it too."

Shunsui took advantage of her distraction and wound his arm around her waist, bringing half of her torso flush against his.

"Why have you been avoiding me then?" he asked as she tucked her head into the crook of his neck impulsively. "Didn't you know that would hurt me too?"

"Yes, but I needed time to…sort some things out," she replied, drawing back so that their gazes met. "I'm so sorry, Taichō."

The words seemed far from sufficient.

"Yare, Nanao-chan," Shunsui said with a slight chuckle. "You could be the death of me. First, you resist me with every fiber of your being. Next, you let me kiss you, hold you, do all the things I dreamed about for half a century before threatening me with a harassment suit. And that was _before_ you drank yourself into oblivion with me and _then_ ignored me for two weeks. _Now_ you come sneaking into my room _at night_, trying to reassure me that you aren't having an affair with Jyū."

"I am _not_ having an affair with Ukitake Taichō," Nanao interjected firmly.

Shunsui bent his head so he was resting his forehead against hers. "I believed you the first time, Nanao."

Nanao blinked, confused. She hadn't expected it to be this… _easy_. "Why?" she asked, unable to stop herself.

Shunsui gave her the 'Oh Nanao, You're So Amusing' grin.

"That's what love is, my precious Nanao-chan. I've lived long enough to know that it isn't all sake and poetry. Love is not what you say you _would_ _do_ for the other person, it's what you _actually do_ for them." He caressed her cheek gently as he continued.

"Love is the trust you have in each other. It's the trust that, despite my infamous history, when I tell you I want you in my bed, you'll be the _last_ woman― the _only_ woman lying beside me from now on."

He pulled her completely into his lap and Nanao found herself totally unable to resist.

"So, if I told you I loved you right now," Shunsui said, trailing kisses down the curve of her neck. "Would you believe me?"

"I-I do believe you," Nanao whispered, as his lips moved sensuously over her jaw. "That's what frightens me the most."

Shunsui's lips were hovering over hers and Nanao was absolutely positive that he was going to kiss her.

"In that case, you have a choice to make my lovely Nanao-chan," he said, his breath hot on her upturned lips, sending shivers coursing through her. "Unohana Taichō has declared that Jushirō has made a full recovery. He came to tell me this morning that he has petitioned Yama-ji for your return to the Eighth Division."

Half-delirious, Nanao found herself staring at his lips as he spoke. "What did Yamamoto say?"

"Yama-ji would prefer you return to your previous position where he believes you absolutely excel at 'keeping me in line.' However, he feels rather guilty about having made you settle in the Thirteenth only to make you move back so quickly. He says that if you prefer it there, as you have worked harder and lasted longer than any other fukutaichō under me, you may choose to stay there if you wish."

Shocked, Nanao barely responded when Shunsui ran a skilled hand down her side. His whiskers brushed her cheek as he placed his lips right next to her ear.

"I wanted to protest and say that I have never had the pleasure of having you under me," Nanao blushed at the blatant innuendo but promptly forgot about it as his hand brushed ever so lightly across her breast. "I am hoping to rectify that situation very soon."

"However," Shunsui continued, his tone growing serious. "If you chose to return to the Eighth, you must understand, Nanao that you cannot expect me to maintain a strictly profession relationship with you for very long."

"I understand," Nanao replied, still reeling from the news.

Shunsui tugged her hair jokingly. "I'm being released today," he told her, a small smile playing across his lips. "So, you know where to find me."

"Hai," Nanao responded, going to stand up. "I should leave, it's almost dawn."

Shunsui nodded, reluctantly releasing his hold on her waist.

"Nanao-chan," he said, tugging her hand once more. "If you choose to return to the Eighth, do bring that _lovely_ Yukata with you." Shunsui placed a whiskered kiss to her knuckles. "I can think of many uses for it."

Blushing brighter than ever, her heart bursting with hope, Nanao fairly sprinted the distance back to the Thirteenth Division.

- - -

When Nanao arrived back at the Thirteenth Division, she was surprised to find a figure huddled on her front stoop. Panic set suddenly in on her rejoicing heart, squashing the ballooning feeling of elation within her. It was dark enough she couldn't make out the person's features, only their diminutive stature. What if it was Kiyone?

_Had something happened to Ukitake Taichō while I've been gone? _

Nanao lit a flare of reiatsu and held it up. The beam slithered across the dewy ground, illuminated Okuni's startled face. It appeared as if she had been crying.

"Ise Fukutaichō?" she asked breathlessly. Nanao advanced towards her with the ball of light and the girl scurried backwards until the door prevented her from going further. "Please, don't! I-I understand you must be furious with me. I came here to apologize!"

Nanao frowned wondering why the girl looked so threatened. Then she realized that Okuni probably thought she was preparing to lob a kidō spell at her head in retaliation for her earlier mistake. Nanao lowered the ball of light so that her face could be seen clearly.

"I wasn't going to attack you, I just couldn't see you."

Okuni got to her feet and came to stand before Nanao, her gaze fixed on her wringing hands.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Nanao!" she wailed. "Ukitake explained everything to me. I feel so ridiculous! I probably ruined your relationship with Kyōraku Taichō forever! I just saw you two together and I felt… betrayed almost as if you had been _lying_ to everyone the entire time, because _everyone_ thought you were in love with Kyōraku Taichō and there you were in the arms of his best friend." She paused, gasping for breath.

"And all I could picture was Kyōraku Taichō thinking _I_ was _you_ and saying how much he _loved_ you with what could have possibly been his dying breath and I just lost it!"

Okuni flung herself at Nanao, as more tears of remorse cascaded down her cheeks. "Please, forgive me!"

She continued sobbing for forgiveness even as a rather shocked Nanao finally wrapped her arms around her friend.

"It's alright. I forgive you," she said, stroking Okuni's disheveled hair the way she usually consoled Matsumoto when she both was drunk and depressed. "I just wish you would have given us a chance to explain… but it's over now."

"What do you mean _it's over_?' Okuni froze in her arms for a moment, her tone rather strange.

"The misunderstanding," Nanao replied, as Okuni broke away from her, wiping her puffy eyes. "I just went and saw Kyōraku Taichō."

Okuni blinked up at Nanao through her clumped eyelashes. "_And_?" she asked, her tone of expectation barely masked by her trepidation.

"Everything is fine," Nanao finished, going over and unlocking the door.

"I really am sorry," Okuni repeated softly, fingering the delicate hell butterfly which hung at her neck as she usually did when upset.

"I said it was fine, didn't I?" Nanao repeated in her usual no-nonsense tone. "Would you like to come in?" she asked, sliding the door to her quarters open and looking at her smaller friend expectantly. "You can help me pack."

"**PACK**?" Okuni asked incredulously, trotting up to the door as Nanao disappeared down the narrow hallway, lighting lamps along her way. "But you said everything was _fine_!" Okuni called after Nanao's retreating back.

"It is," Nanao said, sticking her head around the corner. "I've been transferred back to the Eighth."

Nanao found that she could no longer contain her own smile as her diminutive friend jumped into the air, whooping for joy.

"I can't believe it!" Okuni shouted, her hair flapping up and down as she hopped on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands, and squealing like a schoolgirl. "Aren't you happy?" Okuni asked, dragging her fukutaichō back around the corner, still jumping up and down. "Dance with me!"

_What harm could it do to let go? _Nanao thought, as Okuni twirled her like a ballroom dancer, causing Nanao to laugh.

_Just this once._

_

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_A/N: Review! Jidanbo will be playing musical chairs with all the non-reviewers! And then I'm going to moonwalk over you lurker-pancakes! 


	15. Cause for Celebration

A/N: Well ladies and gentleman, here it is, the very last chapter of Tossed Aside. The line which inspired the title is encased in this little gem (or I hope it's a little gem) and I hope it will be apparent why I decided to use it. I knew I wanted that line in the last chapter before I began to even write the rest of the story. There will be a short epilogue after this chapter so that you my beloved readers can get your daily quotient of Shunsui and Nanao romance before it really is all over. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!

* * *

**Tossed Aside  
****Chapter Fifteen: Cause for Celebration**

Nanao hoisted her canvas bag and slung it across her torso with the air of one who has just completed a long journey and was finally returning home.

Her eyes roved meticulously around her dismal quarters as she tried to think of anything she might have forgotten to do, checking for any items she might have forgotten to pack.

Nanao had gathered most of her belongings the previous night before falling into a deep and restful sleep for the first and last time since she arrived at the Thirteen Division. In the morning, she had shared breakfast with Ukitake. He had been delighted when he accomplished what he had previously thought to be a near impossible feat, namely making her smile slightly as he playfully tried to persuade her to remain as his fukutaichō.

In the afternoon, determined to at least make some impact on any division she was assigned to, Nanao took Kiyone and her fellow seated officers aside and demonstrated a much more efficient method of organizing the squad's heavy amount of paperwork, a side effect of the fact that the Thirteenth had taken on one of the leaderless squad's workload following Aizen's betrayal. It had been during this process that Nanao discovered a large box in the corner of the room, full to the brim with folders of files, all with Ukitake's signature on them. It appeared she had finally solved the puzzle of her mysteriously light workload over the last two weeks. Had she not been so touched that Ukitake had tried to soften her own burden by hauling his own weight, even while he had been unwell, she would have scolded him in a manner very similar to how she scolded her former Taichō.

_He's not your former Taichō anymore, is he?_ A small voice chimed gleefully in the back of Nanao's head.

She tucked the box which contained all of her most treasured possessions under her arm and picked up her new book. It was on loan from Ukitake with the promise that she would come and visit once she had finished so they could discuss it.

With a satisfying click, Nanao slid shut the door to her sepulchral quarters and began her walk back to the Eighth Division. She nodded politely to the squad members she passed as they expressed their gratitude for her time with them. Nanao sincerely hoped that they could not tell she was not the least bit disappointed to be returning to her buoyant squad-mates, the never-ending chaos that always followed in their wake, and most of all, their wonderful, sake-loving, haori-clad Taichō.

- - -

Nanao paused outside the door of the Eighth Division office. The slightly tarnished gold sign on the door shone in the orange light of the sun as it set over the deserted square. She didn't understand why she was so nervous. The office was probably empty, as most of the squad members appeared to be eating dinner, judging from the amount of noise coming from the direction of the mess hall.

With trembling fingers, Nanao reached out and turned the glinting brass knob.

She had only been partially right. The office _was_ deserted except for two people.

"Yare, maybe I was too pushy last night," Shunsui was saying despondently.

"She's coming, Taichō," responded a slightly exasperated voice which Nanao recognized as Okuni's.

Smiling softly, Nanao opened the door farther and slid into the office. Shunsui was sitting at his large desk, his feet propped up on its polished surface. His favorite straw hat was pulled low over his eyes to deflect the bright light coming in the large office window. He was clutching his accustomed bottle of sake, which he was waving around distractedly as he spoke from beneath the brim of his hat. On the floor, Okuni was putting the finishing touches on a box of paperwork destined for the First Division offices.

"You shouldn't put your feet on the furniture, Kyōraku Taichō," Nanao scolded gently.

Shunsui slowly pushed back the brim of his hat with one finger, as his heart leapt in his throat, hardly daring to believe his ears. But there, framed in the auriferous radiance of the dying afternoon was _his_ beautiful Nanao-chan. Her hair was rich, shining, and impeccably done as it always was; her crisp uniform tied with precision instead of flair. She had a bag slung across her shoulders and in one hand she was holding a small box. The other hand was clutched around a large, leather-bound book, a sight which thoroughly fixed the silly grin which had erupted on his face the moment he saw her.

"Nanao-chan," he breathed.

"Hai," she replied softly.

The sun was glinting off her glasses, making it hard to see her eyes but Shunsui would bet his month's supply of sake that those magnificent blue-violet orbs would be soft, and a small smile would be playing about her lips.

On the floor, Okuni took one knowing glance between her superior officers before clearing her throat loudly.

"Well, I'm _famished_," she said, brushing nonexistent lint off her uniform. "I think I'll go…procure some nourishment. See you tomorrow, Kyōraku Taichō." She strode jauntily to the exit, casting them one last sly glance as she shut the door with a soft snap.

And then they were alone.

Nanao slid the bag off of her shoulders and let it sink to the floor. She set the box down next to the bag, but maintained her clutch on the book, more to steady herself against her pounding heart and quaking nerves as Shunsui rose slowly to his feet.

"You had me concerned for a minute, my lovely Nanao-chan," Shunsui said, making his way around the desk.

"I had some things I had to attend to before I left," she replied, as he took a step towards her.

"This is your decision then?" Shunsui asked. They both knew he wasn't merely talking about resuming their professional relationship. Nanao took the step that closed the distance between them, her eyes staring at him intently.

"Hai Taichō, I have made up my mind," she said firmly, the last word catching in her throat as Shunsui cautiously snaked one arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him.

Shunsui bent over her upturned countenance, a large part of him expecting his face to be forcefully introduced to the book she was still clutching between them.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that _this_ time, it was the book, along with all her inhibitions, and not his feelings that Nanao tossed aside as she leapt into his arms and meshed her mouth with his.

Shunsui was feeling a lightheadedness that was distinctly better than sake as Nanao's delicate lips moved determinedly over his. Her elegant hand slipped into the neck of his shirt, caressing the skin there. He wondered briefly if perhaps Nanao had had more experience than she let on, but then again his Nanao-chan had always been a wonderfully quick study.

Shunsui growled in approval as her legs tightened their grip around his waist. Her hairpins fell with small clinks to the floor, casualties of his quest to dominate her previously forbidden hair. These were closely followed by his hat, which Nanao dropped carelessly after unhooking it from where it had fallen back around his shoulders.

Shunsui felt a distinct pang of disappointment when Nanao unhooked her feet and slid down his body to stand once more. This feeling was quickly forgotten however as a wave of arousal unequal to anything he had ever felt crashed over him as he watched, transfixed, as Nanao removed the one item he knew she felt truly naked without― her glasses. She placed the lenses gently down onto the surface of her desk, her cheeks furiously red. Shunsui wondered if Nanao even knew how incredibly _sexy_ she was, as her unguarded and amazingly bright eyes shyly met his own dark gaze through her thick, black lashes. Wrapping her arms around him, Nanao stood on her toes, tentatively resuming the kiss.

When her tongue grazed against his, Shunsui decided it was high time they moved to a new location. Grinning when Nanao let out a small squeal of surprise, Shunsui swept his lover off her feet and carried her upstairs to his quarters.

- - -

So preoccupied were Shunsui and Nanao that they failed to notice the top of a brown head that slowly rose over the edge of the large office windowsill until two bespectacled eyes were barely visible.

"This is _too_ cute," Okuni squealed into the small hell butterfly suspended around her neck as she watched her Taichō's pink haori disappear up the stairs, his fukutaichō clasped in his arms.

"Mission _definitely_ accomplished," she said, standing up to full height.

"Great job, Takahashi-san," a male voice returned. "Now, complete your final mission and return to headquarters so we can celebrate."

"Hurry up Okuni," a female voice echoed out of the butterfly. "I want to break out the sake!"

"Right!" the brunette replied, and hurried off to the mess hall to accomplish her last task.

- - -

"Ah, here's our leading lady!" Ukitake cried, looking up from the long list of calculations he was pouring over, as Okuni slid open the door to his quarters, grinning.

"_Bravo! Bravo!_" Matsumoto giggled, throwing a rose to the petite shinigami who caught it deftly.

"Thank you, _thank you_," Okuni cried, bowing dramatically while Ukitake and Matsumoto applauded.

"How did it go?" Matsumoto asked, holding up a bottle of wine and a bottle of sake for Okuni to choose from.

"They made the last part _far_ too easy," Okuni grinned, snatching the wine out of Matsumoto's hands and popping the cork. "Nanao left her things right next to the door, which shows that she didn't go back to her quarters. Not to mention his favorite hat on the floor, _her glasses_ on the desk and―" she paused for effect, "the sash halfway up the staircase!"

She laughed as Matsumoto shrieked with delight, flopping herself down on the sea of pillows next to the small table.

"All I had to do," Okuni continued, "was go into the mess hall."

She put on a wide-eyed, innocent expression.

"_Where's Ise Fukutaichō? I thought she and Kyōraku Taichō would be here soon. I left them __**all alone**__ in the office, but that was twenty minutes ago!_ I'm surprised the two of them didn't hear the commotion when the _entire_ division stampeded over to the office to look in the windows. I don't think you'll have any shortage of witnesses that you won the bet Ukitake Taichō."

Okuni shrugged. "At least this way Nanao doesn't have to worry about keeping their relationship a secret. The Division was already breaking out the sake to celebrate their Taichō's glorious victory over Nanao's stubbornness!"

"I'm _so_ happy!" Matsumoto squealed, crushing Okuni to her bosom. She turned to Ukitake who was still adding more numbers on the parchment. "I knew the minute I met her that she would be able to help us!"

Ukitake put his pen down long enough to help extradite Okuni from Matsumoto's 'Hug of Death.'

"I should not have doubted you, Rangiku-san," he said as the gasping Okuni moved over to sit in safety on his other side. "Having someone working for us in the Eighth Division was a brilliant idea. I am only happy that we were able to find such a talented actress as Takahashi-san in our midst."

"Aww, Ukitake Taichō," Okuni cooed teasingly, pecking his cheek. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Okuni? Besides, it was no problem. I told you before that if I hadn't decided to become a shinigami I would have entered into a life in the theatre."

"Still," Ukitake said, "It must have been difficult maintaining your persona all that time. I have no idea how you managed it, I kept forgetting to cough pathetically when I was supposed to be in throws of a relapse."

"But you pulled it off brilliantly, didn't you?" Okuni said, tugging her long hair out of its twist before pulling it up into a much softer looking ponytail which fell down to near her waist, curling at the ends. "Not to mention orchestrating this entire plan to get them together. I mean getting an order from Yamamoto simply requesting that Nanao spend a few days teaching your third seats better organization and using it to forge transfer orders? Sheer genius!"

Ukitake looked down modestly. "But it was not I who was constantly in the Eighth Division pushing our lovebirds together, now was I?"

Okuni made a gesture of dismissal.

"I already told you it was nothing. Once you told me of your plan to separate them in order to make them realize the depths of their feelings, I decided that it would turn the proverbial knife a little deeper if Nanao thought there was someone around who that could potentially replace her. Who better to replace Nanao than a miniature version of herself? It also had the added effect of making Kyōraku Taichō miss her even worse than he would have. The only _really_ difficult thing," she continued, removing the horn-rimmed glasses and pulling a face, "was wearing these _things_ all the time. Have you ever tried _fighting_ in glasses?"

Ukitake chuckled but Matsumoto looked thoughtful.

"There's one thing I don't understand," the strawberry-blonde said as she took another swig of sake. "Kyōraku-san was so convinced that Nanao was at the battle. Unohana Taichō said that the concussion might have caused his vision to blur, but that still doesn't explain him suddenly seeing Nanao when he _knew_ he'd been fighting with Okuni the entire time. They look― well, _looked_ similar," Matsumoto amended taking in the now almost unrecognizable and slightly exotic-looking girl sitting across from her. "But, you could easily tell them apart."

"In that case, you might want to read this," Ukitake replied, handing Matsumoto a book which had been resting at his side. A small scrap of paper was placed in the middle, marking the appropriate page.

"I have reason to believe that Okuni-san has an illusion zanpakutō, similar to the one Aizen used to employ."

Okuni came around the table to read over Matsumoto's shoulder.

"_How_ can you understand this?" The brunette asked. "It so old it's like reading a foreign language!"

"You mean her zanpakutō hypnotizes people?" Matsumoto asked, glancing up at the white-haired captain.

"Not exactly. I believe that when her initial release is activated, the zanpakutō casts an illusion around Okuni-san so she _appears_ to be someone else; an excellent weapon for covert operations and confusing an enemy."

Ukitake turned to Okuni.

"That would also explain why every time you have attempted to use your initial release, you claim nothing has happened. It would be because the effects are not visible to you, only others. Were you holding your zanpakutō when Shunsui mistook you for Ise-san?"

Okuni paused, remembering.

"Erm…Actually, I initiated release a long time before that. It wasn't until I tried remembering what Nanao had told me once during drills that he mixed us up. And then…" she paused, a wide smile breaking out on her face, "I was having trouble unclenching my fist from around my zanpakutō because of my injured arm, so that entire time on the ground…I must have looked like her!"

She paused as a thought interrupted her excitement of finally figuring out what her zanpakutō did.

"So, I have to be thinking directly of a person for the illusion to work?"

"I believe so," Ukitake confirmed, as he scribbled some more. "However, I would be glad to take a day and we could try different approaches. We could also find out how long the illusion lasts and how to maintain it, among other things. I'm sure Shunsui and Nanao would love to help as well."

Matsumoto shared a grin with Okuni.

"_If they ever get out of bed!"_ the females chorused in unison before dissolving into fits of giggles.

"Done!" Ukitake cried, over their continuing laughter, flinging his pen down triumphantly.

"So, how much was the total?" Okuni asked, leaning over Ukitake's shoulder with Matsumoto.

"That's _a lot_ of money," Matsumoto stated, her eyes wide.

"Well, it _is_ the largest betting pool in the Gotei Thirteen," Ukitake reminded them, smiling at their awestruck faces. "In fact, we had to open up an account in Rukongai's Second District bank in order to house all of the money. And when you figure in the interest rate over a hundred and twenty-five years…" He circled a number on the parchment. "That's what it comes out to."

"So what is _that_ split three ways?" Okuni asked.

"You mean _four_ ways," Ukitake corrected, sighing at his companions confused expressions.

"How do you think I managed to keep Shunsui in the hospital long enough for Okuni-san to 'catch' us in compromising position? I was able to convince Retsu to help the cause in return for a share of the profit."

He missed Matsumoto and Okuni exchange looks at the total absence of an honorific from Unohana's name.

"I felt almost grateful when Nanao lost control of her reiatsu," Ukitake admitted. "It was proving very hard to accomplish my set task." He circled another number on the paper. "Anyway, that's how much we get each."

"That's still like a small windfall," Okuni breathed. "Matsumoto," she said, turning with a great air or revelation to her friend. "_I'm rich_!"

The three of them broke out in laughter.

"You know what this means?" Matsumoto asked Okuni a few minutes later. "You can buy a new sash for your zanpakutō and stop moping about the other one."

Okuni frowned slightly.

"I know, but that sash and I have been through a lot together. It's not promising that it hasn't come back from the laundry yet but…" she trailed off morosely.

Okuni shook her head after a few moments, smiling again. "Anyway, it's a happy occasion, we should be celebrating. I propose a toast!" she cried lifting her wine bottle in the air. "That conspiracies plotted behind the backs of friends for their own good may never perish from the earth _and…_ to Shunsui and Nanao, who just landed us crap-load of money!"

"Shunsui and Nanao!" Ukitake and Matsumoto echoed enthusiastically, as the three clinked their bottles together.

"One-hundred and twenty-five years to the day she became his fukutaichō. Who would have actually thought they would dance around each other for this long?" Ukitake said pensively, swirling his own bottle of sake.

"You've been dancing around Unohana Taichō for longer than that!" Matsumoto teased, elbowing Ukitake's side gently with her elbow.

He opened his mouth to reply but was cutoff as a gentle knock sounded on the door to his quarters.

"I'll get it!" Okuni volunteered, practically skipping over the door, sliding it wide open. "Yamada-san! What are you doing here?" she asked, smiling brilliantly at the nervous-looking healer.

"I-I came to deliver this to you," Hanatarō stammered, revealing what he had been holding behind his back. Okuni's mouth dropped open. It was her sash, devoid of blood and sparkling in the twilight. The mysterious masked Geisha smiled softly up at her.

"Yamada-san!" she said, taking the sash from him lovingly. "How did you…. Oh, never mind," she said, throwing her arms around the taller boy's neck and planting a warm kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much!"

Matsumoto winked at suggestively at Hanatarō behind Okuni's back causing his face to flush even further.

"I'm terribly sorry if I interrupted anything," he said when Okuni finally let go.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Okuni said, tying her beloved sash around her, both for show and safe-keeping. "I was just about to leave anyway, you can walk with me."

She bounded forward to give each of her fellow conspirators one last hug.

"You know, Okuni-san," Ukitake said as she drew back from their friendly embrace. "I do have several openings in the Thirteenth. I bet you could work your way up to fukutaichō in no time."

Okuni laughed appreciatively at the offer. "Thanks, Ukitake Taichō, but I think I'll stick with the Eighth. Never a dull day! And I'm sure it'll only get more interesting now that our leaders are _involved_. Besides, the musicians in the division love me; they haven't had someone with a voice like mine to accompany them in a couple centuries!"

Okuni bid goodnight to Matsumoto and Ukitake one last time, before linking her arm around Hanatarō's and leading him away in the direction of the Eighth Division.

"So, _tell me_ Yamada-san," they could hear her saying as their forms disappeared into the night. "Have you ever been to an Eighth Division sake party before?"

Grinning, Matsumoto placed her partially full sake bottle onto the table with a soft thud and pushed herself to her feet. Ukitake looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "You're not going to finish?"

Matsumoto ran a hand through her immaculate hair. She had a smile on her face luminous enough to light the whole of Seireitei for a year.

"Not tonight, I want to be completely sober when I collect my payment kiss from Taichō!"

Ever the gentleman, Ukitake stood to see his last guest out.

Giggling, Matsumoto hurried down the path, pausing just long enough to shout, "I bet Unohana Taichō would _love_ to celebrate with you. You should go see what's she's doing!"

Ukitake watched her skip down the path, her hair fanning out behind her as her suggestion hung suspended in the balmy air of the night.

"Maybe I will go see her," Ukitake whispered in answer into. _After all, life is short, _he thought to himself,_ and_ _it appears lady love is being rather generous tonight. _

Smiling, the white-haired captain selected a fresh bottle of wine from his collection and retrieved two glasses before heading out into the night for his own _private_ celebration.

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A/N: Sniffles…just one more update and it's over. Ah, so is life. Review or I will send you to the Eleventh Division while they are…_remodeling…_ I hear those cement buildings hurt… 


	16. Getting Used to It

A/N: And we've come at last to the end. I loved writing this story, it's been non-stop fun from beginning to end, the characters just sort of taking off and dragging me along. Due to the lack of Shunsui and Nanao fluff in the last chapter, I wrote this epilogue-esque piece to wrap the story up nicely and not leave you in want of more fluff. This fluff in fact is slightly lime-flavored but I wanted to keep my T rating. Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed this story. How about just one more for old times sake?

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**Tossed Aside  
****Epilogue: Getting Used to It**

Nanao watched her sleeping Taichō. His back, partly wrapped in the _very_ tangled sheets, rose and fell with each deep breath he took, a small smirk playing about his lips.

She blinked, still unused to not having her glasses resting protectively on the bridge of her nose. Nanao wanted to walk downstairs and retrieve them from where she had left them on her desk. She didn't want anyone to walk by and see them laying there, along with her other belongings, and put two and two together.

She knew that it would be very difficult to keep her relationship with her Taichō secret for long; she just wanted to introduce the concept _subtly_ and try to avoid at least some of the scandalous gossip that was bound to sweep across the Gotei Thirteen like a storm whenever people found out. However, she was skeptical of her ability to achieve this, especially when she considered the rather loud, ostentatious nature of her chosen lover.

That was the other reason that Nanao yearned for the familiar glint of her somewhat concealing lenses. Without them she felt incredibly _venerable_, a state which Shunsui thoroughly enjoyed seeing her in, but Nanao was less than comfortable with after they had been so…_intimate_.

It had been this lack of confidence which had led Nanao to wrap her previously naked body in the first garment she could grab without having to vacate the bed― the infamous pink haori.

She snuggled farther into the silk garment, the shade of her face nearly matching the color of the fabric as the memories of the night's activities replayed themselves vividly in her mind. Nanao could not believe some of the things _she_ had done or, more importantly, some of the things _he_ had done to _her_.

But what she could not believe most of all was the fact that she had almost hurt him again. She _would_ have hurt them both, had he not stopped her…

_Nanao had expected their first time together to be hurried, impassioned, almost rough as over one hundred years of the desire within them boiled over, _finally_ able to be expressed. _

_She should have known that with Shunsui, _nothing_ was ever how she expected. _

_Nanao was therefore greatly surprised after their initial heated kiss in the office and the removal of her sash halfway up the staircase. When they finally reached his bedroom she saw the bed was neatly made and strewn with scarlet rose petals. Shunsui placed her gently on the silken sheets and set about lighting the four small votive candles floating in a large glass bowl on the bedside table, throwing flickering light onto the walls of the dark room.. _

He certainly is prepared_, Nanao could not help but notice as her heart thudded painfully in her throat. She was fully aware that there was no going back now. _

"_It looks like a shrine," she commented quietly without thinking. _

_Shunsui moved towards her, removing his haori and allowing it to pool on the floor. He placed one knee on the bed, leaning over her. _

"_All the better to worship my Nanao-chan," he replied, meshing their mouths once more. _

_Nanao had imagined this moment many times, but none of them came even close to the reality. There was the slow slide of lips, the flaring heat that ravaged her body quickly as Shunsui attended to her with meticulous fervor. He was uncharacteristically thorough, as he diligently caressed every inch of skin until she was trembling when they finally joined, driving them both to a mind-addling release. _

_It wasn't until after the luminous glow of the glittering stars behind Nanao's eyelids had long faded and Shunsui's breathing had grown deep and even beside her that the doubt had encroached upon her peaceful bliss. _

_What if he had been disappointed? He had seen _everything_ she had to offer, not like she had had the presence of mind to care when he did, but what if she didn't measure up? _

He's had many women and they _had_ to have had flaws_, Nanao thought, but this didn't comfort her in the slightest. What if she hadn't measured up to his previous lovers? _

_As her mind was sent spinning down this dark path, Shunsui's closeness once again seemed oppressive, the sound of his breathing like a clock ticking away the moments until he would wake and tell her the truth― that she was too plain, too inexperienced― breaking her heart. _

_Nanao slid out of bed and pulled on her hakama; it was the first thing she found. The shirt was long, it was meant to be tucked in, and fell to her thighs when not neatly flounced out of her waistband. She stole his sash, because hers had been discarded on the staircase, and was in the process of trying to find her pants when his voice sounded quietly behind her. _

"_Going somewhere, Nanao-chan?" _

_A sudden flare of light behind her told her that Shunsui had lit one of the lamps on the bedside table but when she slowly turned to face him, she found that he was sprawled on the bed, propped up on his elbow, regarding her with shrewd eyes._

"_I―" she began, but couldn't find any excuse to explain her behavior except that she was leaving him._

"_Why are you dressed?" he frowned. "The night is still young and I had never considered it ending like this." _

_He pushed himself into a sitting position and she could not help but admire the elegant ripple of muscle under his sun-browned skin. She swallowed, tugging listlessly on the hem of her shirt, trying to get it to cover more of her. She wanted her glasses _badly

"_Did I disappoint you my Nanao-chan?" he asked. _

_This question was such a surprise to Nanao that her head snapped up of its own accord. _Disappoint her?

"What_?" she stammered, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. _

"_I asked if I disappointed you," he repeated. "I know that I have a _reputation_ and much of what is said about me is untrue but still…Did I not live up to your expectations, Nanao?" _

_She let out a strangled laugh at this idea, it was so _ridiculous_. "No, everything was wonderful…_perfect_, actually." _

"_Did I whack you in my sleep or something then?" Shunsui said frustrated, running a large hand through his hair which was barely managing to stay in a disheveled ponytail._

"_No," Nanao returned, her eyes searching the floor again for the remnants of her clothes. "You slept with your arm around me most of the time. It was… lovely to be held like that." She choked slightly on the last word, now wanting her pants and her damn glasses more than ever. _

_Shunsui caught the catch in her voice and slid forward so he was sitting on the edge of the mattress. "Look at me, Nanao." _

_He grabbed the hand nearest to him and tugged her around to face him when she didn't comply. His eyes searched hers as she looked helplessly down at him. _

"_You're _still_ doubtful," he said incredulously. The blush in her cheeks was answer enough. _

"_I'm sorry," she whispered, trying to turn away but he caught her waist in both hands and prevented her from moving. "It's just everything was _so_…and I…I just lay there thinking…" _

"_Thinking I had made the final conquest and hadn't found it satisfactory?" he finished for her. _

"_Nanao-chan," he said, shaking his head. "It only made me want you more. You said last night that you believed me when I said that I love you. _This_ isn't just some lustful fantasy, though I've got plenty of those involving you too." Shunsui smiled and wiggled her hips lightly as if to dispel her demons. "Now, why don't you just come back to bed?" _

"_So," Nanao said timidly while Shunsui began to untie the sash holding her shirt closed. "I wasn't too terrible then?" _

_He gave her the same smile he had the night before when she amused him._

"_Yare, Nanao-chan," he replied. "For a woman who seems so sure of herself, you have a lot of insecurities." _

_Shunsui flicked the sash to the floor, parting the shirt and running his hands slowly up her bare sides._

"_What will I have to do to assuage these annoying feelings of inadequacy?" he asked, kissing her bellybutton. "Will begging your favor on my knees while professing my undying love work?" _

_She stared as he slid off of his perch on the bed, his hands trailing down her thighs as he came to rest on the floor before her. She placed a hand on his shoulder prepared to tell him that he was being silly when he lifted one small foot in his hand and, with a sly look up at her, placed it on his other shoulder. _

"_Kyōraku Taichō what are―" she began but stopped when he pressed his lips sensuously on the inside of her thigh and she realized exactly _how_ he was planning on begging her favor. _

"Shunsui_," he whispered against her flesh, his warm breath causing her skin to break out in goosebumps. "Say my name, Nanao-chan." _

_She nodded her assent but realized he wasn't looking at her. _

"_Shunsui," she breathed unsteadily into the cool night air, fulfilling his request as his lips reached their intended destination. Any capacity her brain still had left for doubt was soon efficiently shut down…_

Nanao shuddered, brought back to the present by the unusually cool summer breeze that drifted through the open window along with he early pre-dawn light. She was tempted to huddle closer to the warmth her Taichō provided but didn't want to wake him unnecessarily.

She watched with amusement a few moments later when his tan arm inched along the silk bed sheet, searching for her. It was almost as if he had read her mind. His fingers connected with the silk sleeve of his own haori and one eye shot open.

He sighed deeply in relief closing his eyes again sleepily after seeing her face on the pillow a mere foot from his own.

"_Yare_, Nanao-chan," he said, rolling onto his side, his eyes still closed, his arm curling around her waist. "There are times when a man wants to wake and feel _skin_, especially when you've been so skittish."

His hand smoothed over the fabric she had wrapped around her and he finally blinked both eyes open, grinning lazily at the vision before him.

"Are you wearing my haori? My 'ridiculously flamboyant' haori?"

She smiled softly, unable to stop herself. "I was cold," she replied honestly. "And this was close to the bed."

Shunsui pulled her tighter, his hand slipping under the fabric of the robe. She splayed her own hand on his chest and tilted her head to look at him better.

"You could have moved next to me," he said, kissing her gently.

"I didn't want to wake you," she replied, blushing.

"I wouldn't have minded in the least if you had." He rolled so he was hovering on top of her.

"I'm sorry, Kyōraku Taichō," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I just feel so out of my league here."

"Shunsui," he corrected her. "Keep business that is not of my own making out of our bed Nanao-chan." Her heart leapt at the phrase _our bed_ but the words did not wipe the wide-eyed expression from her face.

"_See_," Nanao replied, her hands absentmindedly playing with his hair. "I can't even address you correctly."

"You addressed me fine last night," he replied, capturing her lips with a smirk. She opened her mouth to profess another concern but he cut her off. "Don't worry so much, Nanao-chan. You'll get used to it. And the best way to get used to something," he continued, raining kisses down the column of her throat, "is to keep at it until you've gained your confidence."

"And then what?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

He positively beamed down at her, and she could not help returning the gesture. "You do it some more."

She laughed euphorically. He captured her lips once more, turning them so that she was lying pressed against him.

_Maybe I could get used to this,_ Nanao thought as Shunsui nibbled gently on her bottom lip. _Even his haori is rather comfortable…_

Not that she would ever admit it.

_**The Beginning**_

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A/N: Thank you all again for reading my first bleach fanfic. I have to admit that I'm a little shocked but delighted all the same that it was so successful.

On request of my good friend Conterra-san, as well as some of my wonderful reviewers, I have decided to write a short spin-off of this story dealing with the bet between Hitsugaya and Matsumoto.

I can't decide what to entitle it. I am open to suggestions if any of you would like to include it **in** **your review**. Keep an eye out for the story in August, as I am taking a writing hiatus in order to enjoy the debut of the final Harry Potter book, a rather bittersweet event as I feel like I am bidding goodbye to a childhood friend.

Until we meet again,

Cryssi (BVB)


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